Domoni

Domoni

/
A Domoni family on their boat, 1920
Total population
~15,000,000
Regions with significant populations
Dezevau	10,000,000
Other	5,000,000
Languages
Ziba
Religion
Primarily Badi and irreligion

The Domoni (Ziba: [dɒmɒni] lit. 'boat people') or Jaujeni (Ziba: [ð̠ɒɯð̠əni] lit. 'river people') are an ethnic group or social class, primarily in Dezevau and the Dezevauni diaspora. They traditionally live on and make their living on water, inhabiting boathouses or similar dwellings, and engaging in activities such as fishing, navigation and aquaculture, as well as waterborne nomadism.

The Domoni have been an identifiable group since at least the 15th century, and have historically been subject to discrimination, marginalisation, and assimilationist policies, despite their importance as sailors in the riverine infrastructure of the Aguda Empire, and in the navies of later states in and around Dezevau. Folk conceptions of culture in Dezevau conceived of the Domoni as the smallest of three main groupings, the other two being peasants and urbanites. In modern times, economic changes have resulted in the decline of the traditional lifestyle of the Domoni, with many of them migrating away from ancestral waters or settling on land.

Like most people in Dezevau, Domoni generally speak varieties of Ziba, and traditionally practiced Badi. High levels of contact, migration and intermarriage between Domoni and neighbouring groups mean that categorisation is difficult, but it is estimated that there are about 15 million Domoni, mostly in Dezevau, forming about 5% to 10% of the Dezevauni population (a proportion that has been maintained roughly for the last century).

Name

domoni cursively handwritten in Ziba by a Domoni person as part of a 2005 ethnological study

The usual Domoni endonym is (jaujeni), meaning "river people" in Ziba. However, the usual exonym applied is (domoni), meaning "boat people". The terminology can be said to reflect the conceptions of identity; while the Domoni regard themselves as people whose home is the waterways, (in contrast with the juni, urbanites, and the geguoni, peasants) they have been regarded by outsiders as merely inhabitants of vessels on them. In the past, the terms were more charged, but Domoni is now the most common term generally, except as used by Domoni between themselves.

These terms might also be used in a more general, common sense, to refer to people associated with, living on or working with boats or rivers. It should be noted, also, that Domoni did not traditionally only live on or near rivers, but also lakes, seas, and other navigable bodies of water generally.

In Euclean languages, the Domoni were sometimes referred to as "Sea Gypsies", drawing parallels between them and Savaders because of their marginalisation, nomadism, and dispersion. This term, like the term "gypsy" itself, is antiquated, and now considered offensive.

Distribution

Historically, Domoni were distributed across the major river systems of Dezevau, and its inland seas—mainly the lower Bugunho, Buiganhingi and Doboadane systems, Binhame Inlet and the Bay of Lights. While most today no longer live on waterways proper, most still live in approximately the same regions, which are broadly the most fertile and urbanised regions of Dezevau. States of Dezevau with high populations of Domoni include Bagabiada, Biunhamao and the Binhame Coast.

Around 10 million Domoni live in Dezevau, and around 5 million overseas, forming part of the Dezevauni diaspora. In the diaspora, Domoni mostly do not live nomadically or on waterways.

History

Ancient

The precise origins of the Domoni are unclear, but it is generally thought that they are descendant from the same populations which have inhabited Dezevau and the surrounds for the last two millennia, dating back to the nascent urbanisation of the Dhebinhejo Culture. In particular, it is likely that immigrants from other regions, outcasts from the cities and countryside, and landless migrants formed the stock of the Domoni. Economic activities and transport on and around the rivers of Dezevau were very important to societies in the region since time immemorial, but a distinct waterborne population probably did not develop until development spurred the intensification of navigation, the construction of canals and other hydraulic projects, and in general, an intensification of waterborne activities.

Medieval

In the city-states of medieval Dezevau, the Domoni occupied a middle ground in the dichotomy between urbanites and peasants. While they lived their lives outside the symbolic limina of the city walls (most city-states' ports and docking facilities were outside their walls, so that Domoni visiting or near city-states often did not enter them proper for long), they were also not landed. Because of their frequent migration and involvement with commerce and hydraulic infrastructure (Domoni were often employed as temporary labourers on canals and such), peasants viewed them as more urban than rural. On the other hand, as mentioned, they did not live or work within the boundaries of cities, were dispersed in population, and worked in physical, resource-gathering occupations; the inhabitants of the cities regarded them as essentially rural.

Political power was concentrated in the cities in the city-state systems of medieval Dezevau. Like rural peasants, Domoni were typically affiliated with, but not full citizens of city-states; they provided tribute, taxes or services in return for access to facilities (such as for trade or repair) and goods, but the switching of allegiances was relatively lightly done. However, unlike farmers, Domoni had no immovably permanent fixed abode, and also functioned in smaller units than the rural villages; the result was that the relationships between Domoni and city-states tended to be more commercial, more specific, and more often at arm's length. It has been argued that proto-capitalism developed not only in the Dezevauni city-states, but also as a result of their engagement with the Domoni, necessitating complexity as there were large distances, various jurisdictions and various parties (who might not be as tightly bound by social mores) involved.

At times, Domoni were stereotyped or discriminated against, as untrustworthy, strange or dirty. This was not widespread or severe, and there was continuing intermixture and transmigration, and an appreciation of their role as fisherpeople, navigators and such. Their mobility, however, was important in their developing a shared identity, and being distinguished as a group; if the environment became hostile in one place, they could relatively easily move further afield. It is believed that Domoni may not have broadly become Badist until the medieval era, later than their landed counterparts, which may have contributed to animosity; modern Domoni Badi may retain certain antique characteristics.

Aguda Empire

Compared to landed populations, Domoni were at first relatively unaffected by the expansion of the Aguda Empire, as commercial and navigational arrangements were largely preserved at the local level. However, the stable and unified markets ushered in by the empire, as well as its material needs for increased shipping, communication and military supplies (only at the frontiers later on) changed Domoni life. Units of organisation larger than boathouseholds became more common, as agreements involving multiple cities or waterways could be concluded and expected to be upheld, allowing greater coordination and complexity. The increased administration of the countryside, in terms of matters such as tax collection and the courts also penetrated to Domoni society. Quickly, Domoni people and associations (often imbued with familial, religious or commercial purpose) became more integrated with urban and territorial commercial pursuits.

By the 17th century, most Domoni were involved in some way with associations, which acted similar to guilds, unions or companies, supplying shipping or stevedoring services or maritime labour. The line between Domoni and maritime or waterside workers (such as merchant sailors, marines and stevedores) eroded significantly; in previous times, cities preferred to use urban natives on warships and for important trade. This newfound acceptance into more respectable society was to a significant extent the result of Aguda policies which sought to integrate them more fully. Imperial governments saw them as a valuable source of labour with skills applicable to the empire's highly hydraulic infrastructure, who were also unaffiliated with provincial urban interests. Integration also eliminated the threat that they could pose to the empire's waterways, a threat which was largely unrealised but which could be compared with the disruptive resistance that came at times from fiercely independent peasant communes and the Pelangi in the Panjang Mountains. It should be noted, however, the marketisation of the Domoni was by no means absolute, and most Domoni continued to practice subsistence activities for at least part of their livelihood, and many were never involved with more substantially commercial pursuits.

Also by the 17th century, the Aguda Empire had begun recruiting Domoni into its navy; some rose quickly to higher ranks owing to merit, despite lingering negative attitudes. Scholarship is of several minds on the ethnic demography of the personnel of the late Aguda navy, but it is not in doubt that a very significant proportion became Domoni, such that the traditions and practices of navies in the region were infused by Domoni culture, the influence lasting even through periods where Domoni were a more negligible proportion of navies up until the present day. Although the personnel requirements of the imperial navy were much less than civilian shipping, naval recruitment was also a significant part of the history of the Domoni people, and also an element of Aguda internal policy.

The idea of the three peoples of the Dezevau region, those living in cities, on the land, and on the water (the Domoni being the last one), was popularised in the Aguda Empire period, possibly as a way to minimise or at restructure weaken ethnic differences and regionalism.

Gaullican Southeast Coius

Aguda society changed as corruption and reliance on foreign funding and firepower became more common. Shipping in further reaches of the empire declined as territory was lost, or was outsourced to foreign mariners, while the traditional occupational preserves of the Domoni were threatened by a growing rural population which increasingly found itself without work, surplus in the traditional economy. Colonial powers, in particular Gaullica (which secured control of most of the empire through Saint Bermude's Company), often preferred to deal with the landed, urbanised elite, whose cultural, political and moral power was complimentary to colonial operations, whereas Domoni commerce was in competition. Patterns of shipping changed to be more extractive, and overall, the robustness of the internal market in the region went into decline; at the Aguda Empire's formal abolition in 1866, phenomena such as gowsa emigration and deurbanisation to less complex primary resource extraction or processing for effort showcased the weakness of the economy. The division of the empire into successor states also disrupted the widely-distributed Domoni (though later centralisation rendered divisions largely symbolic), while Bureau for Southeast Coius policy was no kinder than that of the Company after it was nationalised in 1889.

Many Domoni continued working in maritime or waterside industries, but increased labour availability and the entrenching of urban privilege and inequality by colonial power significantly reduced their stature and their organisations' significance. Despite policies that displaced Domoni from traditional homes such as wetland-draining, river-canalisation, and canal construction and widening, many Domoni returned to subsistence activities as commercial opportunities became scarcer and less attractive. Nascent import-substitution industrialisation absorbed a significant surplus amount of labour, but after the Great Collapse of 1913, unemployment was worse than ever. Many Domoni joined the Social Liberation Party (founded 1901), later better known as the Dezevauni Section of the Workers' International. The most significant alleviation of unemployment occurred with the outbreak of the Great War in 1927, where Gaullican Southeast Coius saw little combat, but rather mainly supplied the war effort until the eventual victory of the Grand Alliance.

Decolonisation

Many Domoni were involved with the Dezevauni Section of the Workers' International, and were thus involved with its efforts to liberate the region from colonial domination. The party took an internationalist, ethnically nonsectarian approach, and so it had members not only from the Domoni but also the other ethnicities in the Dezevau region; the most prominent Domoni in the party was Gizega Danome.

In the immediate aftermath of the Great War, the DSWI attempted to assert administration over many areas, taking Gaullican surrenders, accessing wartime materiel and such. However, the official peace agreement provided that Estmere was to accept the Gaullican surrender in Gaullican Southeast Coius, and it was thereafter to be trustee for a Community of Nations mandate over the region until such time as independence was appropriate and viable (in the trustee's opinion). The surreptitious resistance and organisational networks built up during the war emerged to provide stiffer opposition to the mandate, which Estmere was little able or politically willing to maintain in the context of postwar exhaustion and ideological changes. Independence was to come by 1940, but in the period before it, a great deal of migration occurred in the region, along with disruption owing from changing and conflicting attempts at authority. Domoni who were able to rely on waterborne nomadism and traditional subsistence often fared well, often becoming involved with migration transport and small-scale commerce in the scarcely-regulated environment. However, at the same time, the administrative marginalisation was an issue, with Domoni failing to receive scarce aid because of their habitation, or not being easily or sufficiently documented.

The partition of Gaullican Southeast Coius was a major event in the history of contemporary Domoni. Many suddenly found themselves in a country they did not necessarily comprehend the basis of, with a new nationality they may not have identified with. Though some attempts were made at helping Domoni move to their desired homes by national governments, the imposition of hard national borders and new governments which did not necessarily have experience in dealing with them were shocks. Many Domoni migrated to cities or settled on land offered them through land reform (as religious and colonial-plantation estates were dismantled), rather than continue to pursue habitats, occupations or lifestyles which seemed insecure and difficult. However, it was also in and around this period that Domoni regionalism and nationalism reached their zenith, as many asserted a right to nationality in the context of nation-based decolonisation. The hook-and-quant became a recognised Domoni symbol at or before this time.

Contemporary

With the dismantling of at least the more formalistic class systems and the gradual erosion of ethnic identity in Dezevau, many descendants of Domoni do not identify with the label, or are unaware of their ethnic history. Among those who do consider themselves Domoni, many are older, or are aware of it only in a genetic sense, with no purported cultural identification or traits. A recent revival of interest has turned around the idea that the Domoni are a moribund ethnicity, but on the whole, the social-ethnic identity of the Domoni is much less significant in the past, because of economic, social, cultural, political change; few occupations are still associated with particular ethnicities in Dezevau, and intense urbanisation has left all non-urban dwellers a minority.

Despite occasional antipathy or neglect from the socialist government (which was focused on development through urbanisation as well as agrarian socialism), some Domoni still practice lifestyles which are essentially traditional, in the sense that they are on water, at least capable of nomadism, and engaging in activities such as fishing and freediving. Numbers of people practicing such are decreasing, and in some cases, governments (state and federal) are unsympathetic, even incidentally illegalising certain activities that are part of Domoni lifestyles. Many Domoni themselves find it difficult to take advantage of educational opportunities, to find employment, to use modern appliances, to formalise their property rights, to legally work the waterways, and so forth, while engaging in traditional waterborne nomadism. Domoni form an above average proportion of post-gowsa period emigrants from Dezevau, even though few gowsas were Domoni, because of contemporary emigration, mainly for economic reasons.

The celebrations of Domoni have, however, been celebrated to some extent in Dezevau. In a comparable way to the Aguda Empire's utilisation of Domoni as workers unaffiliated to cities, it has been thought that the political and cultural influence of Domoni was significant in asserting ideas such as aquatic commons, and preventing the privatisation or regionalisation of waterways in postcolonial Southeast Coius; this influence is appreciated for helping secure and mature Southeast Coian socialism, and preventing ill-advised or short-sighted waterway policy. Furthermore, recent public interest and scholarship has been on topics including Domoni religion (generally Badist sects), cuisine, music, literature, phenotypes, health and language.

Society

Class

While the Domoni are most commonly understood as an ethnic group, their commonalities based on habitation, occupation and social status, and close integration with other peoples in Dezevau give them characteristics of a social class. It could be said that they had a lower status than urbanites (whose city-states were at the peak of hierarchy) and peasants (whose connection to the land was respected and revered), despite being generally wealthier in liquidity than peasants. However, social class was most significant to the detriment of landless migrant workers, often freed slaves, who did not belong to any of the groups associated with water, land or city. People in that demographic more often joined the Domoni than the other groups when they were not indentured to urban projects, creating a weak association.

With the advent of socialism after the Great War, the separation of ethnicities and classes is substantially broken down, such that the main significance of being Domoni is remnant ethnic identification. Domoni are engaged in society in similar ways to their neighbours, generally having formal (non-traditional) employment and education, fixed abode, and government identification. However, Domoni are on average somewhat less materially wealthy, less formally educated, less represented in positions of power, and more lacking in access to services such as health and emergency relief than non-Domoni. The gap is statistically significant, but it is smaller than gaps which occur in ethnically divided parts of the world, or between recent refugees and non-refugees in Dezevau itself. Most studies suggest that the gap is slowly closing.

Kinship and relationships

Domoni historically were organised around boathouseholds, units created and negotiated through courtship and discussion. This structure can be seen as parallel to the communal village organisational units of peasants in Dezevau, and the diversity of structures that existed in the Dezevauni cities.

Religion

Domoni were historically Badist, but there were some peculiarities to Domoni Badi, which it has been suggested are remnants of ancient customs which fell out of favour in mainstream urbanised Badi. During the early colonial period, there was an upswing in Domoni conversions to various forms of Sotirianity, but this fell by the wayside as the Sotirian Catholic Church became part of the governing institutions, and lost a great deal of popularity among marginalised peoples. Today, in common with contemporary trends in Dezevau, spurred on by socialist agnosticism and atheism, most Domoni are irreligious, though still practicing some cultural customs originating from Badi.

Language

Domoni generally speak the Ziba language, like their neighbours. Some varieties of Ziba are endemic to Domoni communities, though many of these are in decline; Domoni generally speak several registers or dialects of Ziba, for communicating with other Domoni, and with the non-Domoni Ziba speakers of the region they inhabit. There is evidence that state projects for harmonising dialects are reducing this diversity.

Customs

Domoni have some customs. They are influenced by Badi.

Genetics

Domoni are mostly indistinguishable from other Dezevauni people, but some have been noted to have unusually high lung capacities and other adaptations that make them good swimmers and freedivers. It is not entirely clear whether these are a result of nature or nurture; some experiments in upbringing or training have been able to replicate physical characteristics associated with Domoni in non-Domoni. Some common or stereotyped differences between Domoni and non-Domoni, physically speaking, may also be a result of diet (Domoni eat a great deal of seafood) or other environmental factors.

See also

• Gowsa