Stilt houses (kelong cacak) in kampung Masiran, Kawal, Gunung Kijang, Bintan Regency, Riau Islands, Indonesia, March 2026. Courtesy of NTU CCA.
Corals at the Threshold: Spiritual Protection in Orang Laut Homes
Johanes Jamil is an Orang Suku Laut man from kampung Masiran, in Kawal, a small coastal village in the eastern part of Bintan. A third-generation descendant and head of this seafaring community who settled in Kawal, he takes pride in their heritage, and maintains close ties to families living across the islands of Bintan and Lingga. After finishing school, Johanes received a scholarship to study Religious Education and Philosophy at Santa Dharma University in Yogyakarta. Today, he often helps share stories about the knowledge and traditions of the Orang Laut.
In kampung Masiran, Kawal village, many Orang Laut families live in small stilt houses by the sea, called kelong cacak. Above the entrance of these homes, different objects hang quietly from the wooden beams.
One doorway may hold a dried seahorse or a piece of coral, both believed to protect the household from black magic and evil spirits, and to detect what cannot be seen by humans. For coral, this protection is also connected to the sea, as it may be placed above the door to ask for better fortune and a larger catch. Another may display a sea snail, used to guard against people with bad intentions. A spoon that once belonged to a deceased ancestor or loved family member who lived in the house may also be hung as a remembrance and to keep wandering spirits away.
Protection can also be carried on the body. Johanes showed a ring made from sea turtle shell, believed to protect its wearer from poison. If the bearer were offered a poisoned drink, Johanes explained, the glass would break, revealing the danger before it could be consume.
These objects are not decorations. They are expressions of intergenerational knowledge passed down within Orang Laut families. Each object carries meaning, linking marine life, ancestry, and everyday survival.
For the Orang Laut, coral is not only part of the sea’s ecology. It is also part of a lived cosmology that connects the household to the ocean and to those who came before. Hanging above the doorway, the coral becomes a form of spiritual protection, and a quiet gesture of respect toward the sea and the life it provides.
An Orang Laut community member wearing a ring made from sea turtle shell, believed to protect its wearer from poison. Kampung Masiran, Kawal, Gunung Kijang, Bintan Regency, Riau Islands, Indonesia, March 2026. Courtesy of NTU CCA.
An Orang Laut community member wearing a ring made from sea turtle shell, believed to protect its wearer from poison. Kampung Masiran, Kawal, Gunung Kijang, Bintan Regency, Riau Islands, Indonesia, March 2026. Courtesy of NTU CCA.
Yet this kind of knowledge is rarely recognised as environmental expertise. Spiritual relationships with marine life often fall outside scientific or policy frameworks, even though they shape how communities understand, care for, and live alongside coastal ecosystems.
For the Orang Laut, these objects are more than symbols. They are reminders of an on-going relationship with the sea and with the ancestors who once navigated it. Hanging above the doorway, the coral and other objects quietly guide everyday life, shaping how the home, the ocean, and the spirit world remain connected.
