Women Divers

Haenyeo

In our leisure drive around the island, we knocked at the door of a typical 5 day traditional market along a coast.

Obviously, this coastal locale is a market for catch from the open seas; all so fresh and inviting. Shellfish of all forms and shapes are easily gotten here.

 I was most attracted to this figurine constructed in front of the market. It is a depiction of women power in Jeju. I heard stories that Jeju culture treasures daughters more than sons. It is first of its kind in the Asian region. In typical Asian homes not having a son is doom. But in Jeju the opposite is true. When you have a daughter , you have treasure in the home but when you have a haenyeo for a wife, you can be assured of life long fortune. You will be well fed.

How nice; I would have received great favour there.

Jeju culture practises matriarchal structure in the home. It is the women folk who rises up to the occasion to look after families through their sea diving vocation. Like the Ama in the coastal town of Toba in Japan, the Haenyeo of Jeju are divers who look for shellfish like abalone and turban shells. 

Their age can range from 60 to 80 and the veterans are not afraid of the seas fishing for produce for a good ten months of a year.

Clad in black wetsuits and flippers, they dive without oxygen masks but hold a net to keep the haul; very rudimentary equipment indeed. They are accompanied by a bouyant ring to signal their presence and they resurface after a minute or so to breathe. 

Tirelessly, they resurface over and over again to boost their haul. 

Determined and gritty, haenyeon perseverance is related to many success stories in Jeju. 

Much honour and respect are given to their sacrifices and bravery.  

Perhaps our Jeju experience is most enriched by our encounter with a haenyeo in action. We were fortunate as we drove along the coast and saw bouyant rings floating in the nearby coast. We halted and walked to her. She was busy counting the turban sea snail for the middlemen who had parked his van on the roadside waiting for her to finish counting.

She walked to a shed where bouyant rings were hung to dry perhaps. 

This is evidence that sea diving activities are happening here.

This boss allowed me to hold the turban shells and told me that they will be brought to local restaurants for feasts. He had a gold watch and big gold rings. He must be wealthy.

While browsing through traditional markets, we also saw the sea snails and fresh abalone being sold. Did they come from the haenyeon haul?

This is also how they remove the flesh from its shell.

Everywhere we went, the haenyeon representation is certain. 

There are stories behind the dolls.

Local museums also give credit to the sea diving enterprise of the haenyeos. 

Jeju is proud of them.

A dangerous, difficult and demanding trade, it is not surprising that the number of women divers has dwindled through the years. Unless insisted by deep family tradition, the female gender may look for greener pastures elsewhere.

A photo form the museum to recollect the existence of this brave group of divers.

I was most glad to know about them and they have enlightened my knowledge.

There are so many things to know in life.

I truly know very little.

The brave women folk of Jeju.