Shinan-gun to Build 'Island Life History Museum' Showcasing History and Culture

Holding a Report Meeting on Data Survey for the Construction of the Seom Saenghwalsa Museum

Shinan County and Mokpo National University Institute of Island Culture have collected island life history materials over the past 10 years (Photo by Shinan County)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do, announced on the 30th that it held an interim results briefing on the 28th as part of a long-term project to investigate and collect island life history materials, which began in 2012 with the Heuksan area.

Sinan-gun and Mokpo National University’s Institute of Book and Culture Research have investigated island life history materials from Heuksan, Hongdo, Gageodo (2012), Bigeum, Dochodo (2012), Jaeun Pyo Moon-cheol Collection (2013), Jaeun, Amtae (2013), Anjwa, Palgeum (2014), Imjado (2014), Aphaedo (2019), Jido (2020), as well as islands in Jindo, Wando, and Tongyeong, Gyeongnam regions over the past decade. They have published a total of seven standalone volumes and collected over 1,500 life history items.

The remaining daily tools on each island are being neglected or damaged due to the aging population and industrialization of residents, so the production background and usage methods were investigated from the users and the items were donated.

Islanders live on the land of the island, the tidal flats at the border between the island and the sea, and engage in livelihood activities at sea. The daily tools made and used by islanders according to the island’s ecological environment show how they have lived, and through comparison of the shape and function of these tools, valuable materials for considering regional identity are provided.

Although islanders are thought to live by fishing or aquaculture activities, except for some islands where farming is difficult due to lack of arable land, most islands have practiced agriculture to obtain staple grains.

Therefore, agricultural tools occupy a larger proportion than fishing gear in the lives and livelihoods of islanders. Their agricultural tools and daily tools well represent the identity of island life.

For example, the ‘ttabi’ collected from Jinri Village on Uido is an agricultural tool widely used instead of a plow on islands without cattle. It was used for tilling fields or gathering firewood in the mountains and was usefully made and passed down as a double-edged tool.

Also, the ‘Gamtugalku’ confirmed in Seondo, Jido-eup, is a daily tool whose name is a compound of ‘Gamt’u,’ referring to the seaweed gamtae native to Sinan’s Aphae, Jido, and other areas, and ‘galku,’ a dialect word for rake.

Seondo residents harvest gamtae from the first lunar month to the third lunar month. Since gamtae attaches to tidal flats, they scrape it off with the galku, calling this activity ‘gamtu manda.’

Although these daily tools were once commonly seen around us, island life history materials that are now almost gone and hard to find will inevitably lead to the disappearance of dialects, livelihood backgrounds, culture, and history if lost.

Based on the basic research and collection up to the sixth survey, the county plans to commission a feasibility study and establish a basic plan for building an Island Life History Museum next year, aiming to construct an island life history museum worth 20 billion KRW in the central Sinan area.

County Governor Park Woo-ryang said, “Although this is an era where industrialization, urbanization, and aging are said to be crises for the region, conversely, building an Island Life History Museum that shows the history and culture of islanders, which is hard to see on the mainland, will be our competitive advantage,” adding, “It will also be a great source of pride for the residents who have protected and lived on the islands.”

Meanwhile, according to the annual plan to secure basic data for the construction of the Island Life History Museum, the county plans to investigate life history materials from Jeungdo, Haedo, and Sinui-do next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.