Rings of Coral: Moken Folktales (Mergui Archipelago Project)

This is the first compilation of the oral literature of the Moken, the sea gypsies of the Andaman Sea. Virtually unknown to scholars, except for a few collected in 1838 by Hugo Bernatzik, the 44 stories presented here, of a total of 100, were specially revealed by the Moken to Jacques Ivanoff, the foremost scholar on the Moken, who has here retold and analyzed them. The stories deal with the Moken's historical roots, the creation of Moken society and its flourishing; folk tales, myths and spirit songs. These stories are essential to understand the Moken society and its survival until now, in an ecological and cultural niche. Additional stories recorded by observers are also listed.