MohkenThe Mohken or sea nomads of the southwestern coast of Thailand and Burma have had to adapt The Mohken have had to adapt to climatic geography and utilize their natural resources in their regional travel zones partly as due to the monsoon season every summer and winter, this forces their typical life at sea to a life on land. The monsoon will blow from southwest to southeast depending on the season. Once on land, Mohken switch to terrestrial foraging from the sea and freshwater for sustenance. This is seen as a way of adaptation for the Mohken as they have very small tool kits to maintain their mobility they must keep the tool kits light. To compensate for such small tool kits, the Mohken are very in touch with weather patterns; what time of year it is for what to fish or forage for. Kinship is matrilineal and bilateral, which therefore allows access to more resources, deriving from both the matrilineal and patrilineal lines. Thanks to their adaptability they are excellent gatherers and fishermen. They have always been a hunter-gatherer society, and their very origin story, passed down orally from generation to generation, has helped them maintain their culture and identity to this day. The Mohken are very spiritual people and have their own creation story of where they come from and how they originated. They collect symbols like a thread to tie them to the story. For example, many people are represented in the stars as are animals. The Mohken are matriarchal and Sibian in myth is a representative of the sea and where the true land begins. Another character of the myth is the turtle, who returns to earth and after having laid her eggs leaves them just like Sibian does who abandons Ken and Gaman while throwing the...... middle of paper......and free reign over our desires” (Chudori). His subsequent comments of feeling deceitful and despicable, as a result of his actions, make one wonder what time he had his epiphany, how many women he had been with while he felt his woman was at home pure and chaste. There seems to be a lot more similarities in gender stresses and identities after colonialism and globalization as before these events a female power for lack of a better word in Cambodia as there were hunter gatherer groups and women and men they had closer roles as both were aware of each other's duties and could therefore prefer them at will. Once colonialism and globalization brought with them more patriarchal values and beliefs, women were repressed and had to take on an almost secondary role to men, although it has been argued that women still retained power in these more subservient roles..
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