ofthe SAME TREE

special ceremonies. In addition, the Moken frequent some fifteen “satellite”
islands and reach the farthest extent of their area of exploitation at Kok Surin,
a small coral island on the Thai-Burma border. The island is regarded as the
home of the “monkey king,” where each beach, each rock, and each mountain
possesses a history and an ancestor. 25
Cynthia Chou’s recent study of the Orang Laut populations in the Riau
archipelago provides some insight into how the Orang Laut groups in the past
may have determined their maritoriality. The seascape is divided according
to the usufruct of the seas and the bordering coastal fringes, as well as by the
legitimizing tales of prior clearance and settlement of an area. The group’s
maritory extends to include that of its kin, creating a fluid situation in which
groups appear to outsiders to be wandering freely among the seas and islands.
Such apparently random movements are actually based on what Chou calls
“a network of territorial ownership through kinship.” For example, one group
can move to the island of another to harvest tripang, and when it is the cuttlefish
season the favor is returned. The practice of operating in another’s area
of usufruct is considered to be “borrowing,” with the only obligation being
prestations to the spirits of the area being visited. 26
Historical evidence indicates that Orang Laut groups varied in size, economic
importance, and social organization. The larger and better-organized
in sociopolitical terms were under leaders with indigenous or Malayu titles
presented by a land-based ruler. Most of the information about the Orang
Laut prior to the nineteenth century relate to their role as the ruler’s navy,
guarding the sea lanes or participating in raids against passing ships and
coastal settlements. But they also performed varied economic functions that
provide an informal guide to their social status. They planted sago, pepper,
gambir, and coconut trees; collected ebony, eaglewood (gaharuwood, aloeswood),
lakawood, rattan, gold, tin (smelted), tripang, and agar-agar; felled
trees for timber; prepared betelnut, gathered and wove kajang or palm-leaf
mats for sails and roofing (a mainly female activity); manufactured coconut
oil; fished; and raided. 27
According to an 1827 Dutch official report by von Ranzow, the most commonly
used title for the heads of Orang Laut islands was the indigenous term
batin. The Malayu title orang kaya was also frequently used, together with
datu, panglima, and penghulu. Only one head had the mixed Malayu-Bugis
title of datu sullewatang. The largest and most important of the islands were
placed directly under a Malayu or Bugis lord: Lingga under the sultan, Singapore
under the Temenggong of Johor, Pahang under the Bendahara of Johor,
and both Penyengat and Bintan under the Bugis Raja Muda. 28 Begbie’s 1834
account adds nothing new to von Ranzow’s list of titles, 29 and neither mentions
the Raja Negara, which in 1718 was the title of the head of the Orang
The Orang Laut and the Malayu 181