Haenyeo, Sea Women of Korea's Jeju Island Part I

UNESCO 등재 기원 특집: 제주해녀, 그들의 이야기 1편
For hundreds of years, women from Korea's southern island of Jeju have made their living braving the elements, diving deep into the sea to harvest seafood from the ocean floor.
Moon Connyoung sheds light on these women divers called haenyeo... as well as the culture and history of Jeju itself.
Jeju.
Lying 64 kilometers south of the Korean peninsula... the island of Jeju has traditionally been referred to as Samdado... or land of three abundances: "roaring winds, magnificent rocks and women."

"Not just any woman. But, women who've been free-diving into the sea for centuries and generations to feed the children, to support the family... for survival."

On a chilly Spring morning in May... 72-year-old Lee Sung-mae and her village sisters... head out for their daily routine.

As they have for the past 60 years, they wipe their goggles with a fistful of mugwort and jump into the darkness of the deep sea.

"My mother was a haenyeo, my sister-in-law is a haenyeo and I also learned to dive here."

"I sent my children with the money earned from harvesting underwater."

They are haenyeo... female divers of Jeju who take to the ocean as deep as 10, 20 meters... without any special diving or breathing equipment.
For ages, they've braved the treacherous waters of the Korea Strait... using only flippers and goggles as they scour the sea bottom for abalone, conch and octopus.

No one knows for sure how the haenyeo of Jeju Island became the primary breadwinners of their families... but in a country where Confucianism has left indelible patriarchal mark everywhere, haenyo culture has long bucked conventional gender roles on the island.

When they are not in the ocean, they grow crops and harvest the land, do household work and take care of the children.

"Women have a lot of work to do here in Jeju. We give birth to children, feed them, send them to school... We go harvesting underwater, farm when we're not in the ocean. Preparing for these ancestral rites is also our job."

"Sometimes I feel bad that men just stay at home when the women are in the icy water. But, it's always been that way here."

Traditionally a job handed down from mother to daughter, haenyeo life has been shunned in recent decades... as more girls tend to favor more comfortable lives in the city.

"Diving in the sea is such a harsh, low-esteem job. Holding your breath, going underwater... it's strenuous. Why would the young ones want to take on this job?"

As the average age of haenyeos grows and many already well in their 80s... that lineage is fading leaving many wondering just for how long this unique tradition can continue.

Moon Conn-young, Arirang News, Jeju.

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