Assessing Variations in Ijo Migrant Fishermen Architecture Through Spatial Classification

Abstract

This article focuses on identifying variations in the base camp dwellings of Ijo migrant fishermen in Nigeria and Cameroon. Migrant fishermen in diasporas learn the techniques of the fishing trade and the skills required for building their vernacular dwellings by cultural transmission methods. This includes obtaining instructions by oral tradition and hands-on practice while they serve as apprentices under parents, master fishermen, or elders. The designs of the dwellings were patterned after the mental blueprints obtained from similar dwellings in their ethnic homeland in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. As a result of cultural dynamism, changes may have occurred in the design of migrant fishermen’s dwellings in diasporas over time. The accumulation of such changes may have constituted significant variations in the design of these vernacular dwellings. The variations in these designs have been analyzed using a spatial classification method, and this article bears some of the findings of the study.