Nain, an offshore island north of Sulawesi in Indonesia, is inhabited by a hard-working community who depend for their livelihood on cultivating a red algae called Rhodophyta. Everybody on the island whether man, woman, child or elderly person, take part in farming this algae which provides for almost everything, including their homes. The cultivation of the algae begins in the sea, and once it has ripened underwater, it is harvested and lain out to dry on the terraces of the pile-dwellings in the village. Afterwards, it is prepared for the international market. This algae contains a gelling agent called Carrageenan, widely used in cosmetics and in the pharmaceutical and food industries. Nain mythology tells of an everlasting bond between these people and the sea; the place where they are born, live out their lives and end them.