Mama Juliana, an Amungme woman from West Papua, takes her noken bag everywhere she goes. When Tempo met her on May 1, Juliana hung it over her head, the way it's meant to be carried. The bag, made from tree bark, was so bit it dangled down to her waist. Though thin, it can hold up to 30 kilograms. "I made it myself," Juliana said.
Konstantina Maniani, who comes from Serui, also takes pride in her noken. She said it was important for Papuans to use it. "So the Papuan tradition and identity do not vanish away," said Konstantina, 36.She lamented the fact that many in the younger generations have taken to more modern bags instead.
Indeed, use of the noken is declining. Since the 1990s, most Papuans have been using nylon to knit or weave their pouch. According to activist Korneles Siep, 42, several factors have contributed to the noken's petering out. Not only are less people are knitting and weaving, but the particular type of tree whose bark is used to make the noken has become difficult to find. People have also can buy mass-produced bags at cheaper prices.
The noken is more than just a bag, said Titus Pekei, a cultural conservationist. It has to do with Papuans' very survival as a people. For example, he said, when a man is carving statues in the forest, he puts his lunch in the noken. Mothers carry their babies, piglets and crops with the noken. When Papuans elect a tribal chief, they use the noken as a ballot box.
The noken is one of the things that unite all the people of West Papua, Titus said. All of its 250 tribes use it, he added, and it would be a shame if it faded away. "Younger generations no longer understand the relationship between the noken and safeguarding of our lives," said Titus, 38.
That's why Titus works to preserve and promote the noken. His efforts have not been in vain. On Dec. 4, 2012, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) added the noken to its "List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding."
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which proposed that the noken be nominated, said it valued Titus' contribution. "We should praise him because he is the pioneer," said Harry Waluyo, former head of Center for Cultural Research and Development (Kapuslitbangbud), a division of the Culture and Tourism Ministry.
More on this article is available on this week's edition of Tempo English