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The new Giraavaru generation by Moosa Latheef and Ismail Naseer translated from Huvaas 12 May 2001 Photos from Huvaas Some countries have people called the natives, or first settlers. Often their way of life, culture and physical appearance is different from the more recent arrivals. In America they are called Red Indians; in Australia, the Aborigines. Who settled in Maldives first? If we side with history, they were the Giraavaru people. They were very different from other Maldivians. They never travelled to any other islands apart from Malé. They never married people from other islands. They never divorced, and a widowed woman would not remarry again. Any help received from Malé was shared by everyone. While other Maldivian women wore their hair-bun on the right side of the head, Giraavaru women wore theirs on the left. But where are the Giraavaru people now? Everything has changed and all the old differences are disappearing. And the Giraavaru people aren't even worried about it! A few elderly people dress in the old ways but Giraavaru customs have almost completely changed. 'Very few young people keep to the old ways now. We're not worried. Everything changes,' says Eesa Mohamed, son of a respected midwife in the community. The changes began in 1968 when they were shifted to Hulhulé from Giraavaru. The government made the decision to shift people from islands with a population less than a congregation for Friday prayers - 40 males over the age of 16 - onto larger islands. The Giraavaru people were not as cooperative as the others. Houses were built for them in Hulhulé and each family was given Rf100 to start their new life. On Hulhulé were people from Viligili, Kaaf atoll, and people from Huvadhu atoll. The Giraavaruans lived separately from everyone else, and the most significant changes to their culture took place after they were moved to Malé in the late 1970s. From that time on. the most ancient family in the Maldives mixed with the dense population of Malé. The lives of young Giraavaruans were shaped by modern life, and only a few kept their old customs. Giraavaru people are very special. When they moved to Malé only 15 families remained. Though the population at the time of their resettlement from Giraavaru was officially not enough for the Friday prayer, the former island chief Adam Mohamed says that for as long as he could remember Friday prayers were held on Giraavaru. He know why the population decreased. 'I think it was due to the Great Depression [1930s-1940s in Maldives],' says Adam who even now is known as the Katheeb (Chief).
When we look at history, the Giraavaru people need to be treated as special. It is claimed that before people settled in Malé it was a small island in the care of the Giraavaruans. Malé was known among them as 'blood island'. The first people who settled in Malé are said to have received permission for the Giraavaru people. Because of this the Malé kings gave the Giraavaruans special attention, and helped provide them with their needs. Sometimes the Malé aristocracy used to say 'no' to the Giraavaruans as a practical joke just to see what they would say in reply. Apparently this would provoke the Giraavaruans to insist that, 'This island is ours, and you stay here if we allow you. You must give us whatever you can.' Special aspects of Giraavaru culture include tambourine playing and trance during dancing. Trance is achieved by bleeding on both sides of the head after stabbing with a chopping knife. The young men of Giraavaru look forward to the trance state. During the playing of the tambourine for the trance ceremony the knife that is kept by the leaders is used to make stab cuts on either side of the head. Even as they bleed the men are high on trance. 'I also attained trance. No pain at all. It was an important custom among us in those days,' said the Giraavaru chief. Now there is no tambourine playing, and the Giraavaru girls don't wear the distinctive dress. When they get married they don't look for someone descended from their island. It is no problem for them to marry any Maldivian now. 'We do not interfere with the way our children live. They are free to do what they think is best. Everything changes.' 'The story of the Giraavaru people will be found in history books from now on. Now there is no difference between the lives of our people and other Maldivians. They have the right to wear the same fashions, and change and improve their own lives.' People shouldn't be surprised by these changes to the people of Giraavaru, but there are those who feel saddened at the loss of a distinctive culture. Customs and fashion unchanging by Mohamed Shaheeb and Hassan Amir translated from Huvaas 12 May 2001
Real Giraavaru people are those born on the island of the same name, near Malé. They lived in Hulhulé for about ten years after being moved from Giraavaru. Then they were shifted to Malé and settled on land reclaimed from the western side of the island. The dress of the Giraavaru women, with a skirt and frock with white stripes around the neckline, is unique. Nobody else wears that fashion. They also wear their hair tied in a bun on the left side. This is a trademark of the Giraavaru people.
Due to their strong family ties, they walk around Malé holding each others hands. This is not a usual practice in Maldives. In the past it was common to see Giraavaru women on the streets of Malé. These days there are many more families, far more than in the past, yet the people obviously from Giraavaru are rarely seen. Why is that? 'People who used to dress that way have died. And the younger generation don't wear that fashion anymore. That's why you don't see it,' says Hawwa Dhaitha of Giraavaru. Living in M. Happy Beach house, she is now a grandmother and at about 80 years of age, the eldest among the Giraavaru people. Another elderly Giraavaruan, the well-known midwife, is still alive but she cannot speak very well because of illness. Traditional dress is complete when worn with a necklace made of beads, and a set of bangles atound the wrists. Hawwa Dhaitha says that people have sold almost all their necklaces and bangles. Some still have their bangles. The previous government [under Ibrahim Nasir] disapproved of their habit of wearing their hairbun on the left side, says Hawwa, and told them to change it to the right side. 'Some people changed, but I didn't.' Hawwa Ahmed, another Giraavaru woman who lives in the same house says that only those born in Giraavaru island wear the dress with white strips around the neckline. None of the people born and brought up in Hulhulé and Malé wear that style. 'Nearly all those people who came from Giraavaru are dead,' says 70 year old Hawwa. 'Only recently two people passed away.' Not more than ten people are now wearing the dress, according to Hawwa, and they are all very old. Both Hawwas agreed that none of the people wearing the Giraavaru dress ever wore any other style. 'They wore the same type of dress until their death.' Only one person wears a 'buruga' [head scarfe] with the Giraavaru dress. In their quest to meet more Giraavaru people, the Huvaas reporters interviewed her as well. She was very unhappy because other people were making up false stories about the Giraavaru islanders and spreading their slanders. In one of the schools, a grade 8 exam paper contained disturbing information about the people of Giraavaru. After that the children in her family were reluctant to attend classes. 'We are also human beings... we have a heart! You can't just broadcast whatever you want,' said a 56 year old person who we met on the street near the Social Centre. 'After that, we decided not to provide any more information to the press or TV. No matter how many Giraavaru houses you visit you won't get any information or photos. And on top of that, if any of my children find out that I had spoke to you they'll be very angry. So I'm going, and I'm not giving my name or anything else.' Giraavaru people have no longing for a wealthy material lifestyle. Their eating and drinking habits are simple. Fish soup, rice and roasted chillies was the lunch of one person sitting and eating on a mat in the dining room. Giraavaru people still keep some of their customs, despite the onslaught of modern culture. One thing is their attitude to shampoo, soap and toothpaste. 'We don't like those things much,' says Hawwa. Though they don't use these items, Giraavaru people are always showered, clean and dressed respectably. 'We put on coconut oil after our shower,' says Hawwa. Compared with other Maldivians, Giraavaru people appear to have healthier skin. Unlike other Maldivian women, Giraavaru women become bald with age, and they aren't embarrassed about it. But there is one thing that makes Giraavaru people uncomfortable - sleeping on mattresses. Most people remove the mattress from their beautifully made beds and spread a mat to sleep on. 'It causes aches and pains when we sleep on a mattress,' says Hawwa Dhaitha sitting on her bed. So does this mean there is no room in their lives for curlons or restolex? [ mattress brandnames ] Not only are the younger generation of Giraavaru people born in Malé different from their ancestors in their attitude to fashion, but they have also adopted the consonant lhaviyani [ lh ], which was never used before. Giraavaru people use the word 'fori' for 'folhi', 'gura' for 'gulha', and 'karusai' for 'kalhusai', says Hawwa Dhaitha, and it's not because they cannot pronounce the sound lhaviyani [ lh ]. She proved it with a perfect pronounciation of the word 'hulhulé'.
With the modern Giraavaru bloodline disdaining the dress of their grandmothers, it is more evidence of the changes taking place in even the most traditional of Maldivian families. |
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Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldivian cultural issues.
Editors and translators: friends and Michael O'Shea, Australia
We invite contributions from Maldivians and others interested in Maldives.
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