NOKEN Knitting Noken, Knitting Life

Knitting Noken

Knitting life

WWhen visiting Jayapura Papua, we will be spoiled by beautiful nature and vendors on the side of the street. One of the merchandises that catches our eye is the traditional Papuan bag, noken. Yes, noken is not only a Papuan cultural identity and a tool for keeping goods, but now also a souvenir that many mama-mama Papua/the Mamas of Papua (the term for married Papuan women) sell on the roadside. They make their own noken, and if we are lucky, we can see them making it right on the side of the road. Although not as famous as batik, noken is an ancestor heritage of ethnic groups in Papua which had been inscribed by UNESCO on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding on December 4, 2012. Needless to say, this becomes a distinctive pride, although not everyone in Papua knows it.

In general, noken is known as a traditional Papuan bag, but actually there are various different terms to call it. Noken which is commonly known as unique to Papua is the “noken Wamena” although this noken does not come from Wamena, the capital of Jayawijaya Regency. This noken becomes a distinctive characteristic of the Mepago ethnic groups in the Central Mountains of Papua. The sizes also vary, from the small size to the large ones. The “mama-mama” in the Mepago customary territory drape it on their head and let it dangle behind their back. The contents are varied, from personal items, food, farm products, to baby and toddler carriers. Other ethnic groups in Papua process Tikar leaves (the term for the type of forest pandanus plant), bark, genemo or melinjo tree fibers (Gnetum gnemon), forest orchid skin, and swamp grass to make noken.

Each ethnic group has its own characteristics in knitting and weaving techniques so that each noken in Papua becomes a kind of ethnic identity. Most of the Papua ethnics has their own term for traditional bag based on their mother tongue, even some ethnic groups identify different words for noken based on several categories. For example, the Sentani community in Ifar Besar Village, Sentani District, Jayapura Regency, calls noken with the term khangge (small bag) and hoboi (big bag). The Tepera society

One of the noken motifs -

Bortolomeus Abdi W. - https://www.shutterstock.com/g/abdiwidyatama in Depapre, Jayapura Regency, call noken by the name tangke moro which means noken bag.

Khangge is a small bag that is used by hanging or as a sling bag. Hoboi is a large bag that is quite helpful for people in placing or carrying large items or a considerable number of items. Khangge and hoboi are made from materials that grow around the villages of the Central Sentani people, namely bark (huisaa/bark fiber) and genemo. The making of hoboi and khangge takes about 1-2 weeks. Hoboi size is usually 1 x 1 meter, while khangge is 30 x 50 cm.

Tangke moro, if interpreted in Indonesian, is a bag. Tangke moro is a traditional craft which is a masterpiece of Tepara people’s knowledge in weaving moro bark into something useful. Tangke moro has been made and used by the people of Depapre since a long time ago and continues to this day as well as becomes a distinctive pride for the people of Tepera. Tangke moro is made from the kanya tree or maro tree or maro bark.

For the making of tangke moro, first the bark of the maro is cleaned, then soaked in salted water in order to produce a more durable tangke moro. After that, the bark is formed, it can be woven or folded. To make it look more beautiful, the outside of the bag is made into tassels. If the material is ready, it only takes two days to make it.

It seems simple, but it’s actually complicated. Each of ethnic groups has different materials and production techniques. Some plants for raw material are still easy to find at forest edge area and gardens, but some are hard to find and in the middle of forest. In general, the raw materials (branches or stems or bark of certain small trees or shrubs) are cut, skinned, and soaked in water to be cleaned of all dirt including tree sap. The sheets of material (wood fibre) are then dried in the sun until dry, then separated or torn into small sheets following the direction of the fibres.Sheets of genemo tree bark, forest orchid skins, forest pandan leaf sheets, and swamp grass that have been previously processed are then twisted into one long strand like thread.

The twisting technique is still traditional; take several materials, spun them with the palm of the hand on the thighs until the strands of the material are tightly joined together like thread or small cord. After twisting process is finished, all material become cords, roll it up and store it so that it can be used at any time. This process keeps repeating into a pattern that is inherent in Papuan culture. When someone is going to make a bag, then the material is spun again into cords, then woven. The typical knitting technique results in crochet which intertwined one another with a looser distance but stronger. This crochet pattern allows noken to be elastic.

Noken Craftswomen

Noken craftsmen are generally women, who use their spare time after doing household chores and taking care of the farm. Usually, the women make noken by sitting in groups while taking care of the children, although there are also those who do it alone. Noken craftswomen are called “mama-mama” noken, although some of them are still single. In certain ethnics, noken is also done by men.

When women gather and make noken, that is their quality time with children and other women, it can even become a kind of me time. At that moment, they can relax while joking and laughing out loud, sharing stories and life experiences between the old and the young. The moment of gathering while making noken indirectly becomes a place for internalizing cultural values because the process of inheritance often occurs. Not only the inheritance of forms, but also the process of meanings and values of life that should be appreciated.

In the socio-cultural life of the ethnics in Papua, noken becomes a cultural symbol that is multifunctional, full of meaning and philosophy that is always carried everywhere. Noken is interpreted as a mother’s womb, which is a symbol of fertility and the inheritance of life values. The ability to make noken is a symbol of a woman who is mature and ready to get married. Noken is used as a medium of exchange, a symbol of dispute resolution and peace, payment of fines, a symbol of social status among the socio-cultural layers of society, and so on. With a complicated process and full of life values, a natural fiber noken has “plus value”.

A Papuan man carries a Khangge or small bag -

Saberia

Factory Threads

Currently, noken made from factory threads with Papuan characteristics are widely available on the market. Initially, it was done by immigrants, but gradually now noken craftsmen are also starting to work on noken variants with factory threads. These two types of noken compete in price in the market, with the cheaper selling price for the factory thread noken. For example, one natural fiber noken with the size of a small notebook is sold for around IDR 200,000, while factory thread noken is sold cheaper. The more difficult the raw materials, the more expensive the price. Noken made from orchids, also known as orchid noken or yellow noken, is the most expensive noken in its class. Orchid noken with the size of a notebook is sold for around IDR 1,000,000. This type of Noken is more complicated to process and the raw material in the form of yellow forest orchids is increasingly difficult to obtain.

Although it is sold more expensive than factory thread noken, natural fiber noken is still interesting and has its own fans. Various efforts continue to be done by cultural activists, craftsmen, SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) activists, the private sector, and the government to maintain the existence of noken, not only as an object but also as an intangible culture. One step that has been implemented is the recommendation to use noken for student and employees, both government employees and private employees. Despite the fact, there are also those who wear factory thread noken. In Jayapura City, there are already considerable spaces provided by the local government and private sector for mamamama noken to sell their merchandise, for example at the Danau Sentani Festival, Humbolt Bay Festival, PON XX, and PEPARNAS XX. Noken has also been sold online.

The cooperation of all party indispensable for maintaining the status of noken as a UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage, by providing the availability of raw materials for noken. Natural raw materials are starting to decrease, partly because of forest clearing and land expansion for settlements and other land use interests. To overcome this, it is necessary to conduct a collaborative effort in nursery and cultivation of plants for raw materials between the society, government, and other parties. Another effort is to include noken as teaching material in local content curriculum so that knowledge of noken and its values can continue.

Actually, there has been a Noken Museum which was inaugurated on April 10, 2013 in Jayapura City. However, the museum has not functioned optimally as a means of information and education, as well as the protection and utilization of this Papuan icon. In fact, a museum can also be a pleasant tourist destination for tourists from outside Papua.

(Windy Hapsari, S.Sos., M. Si/ A Senior Cultural Administrator at the Regional Office for Cultural Values Preservation

in Papua Province, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology )

A Mama makes noken -

Bortolomeus Abdi W. - https://www.shutterstock.com/g/abdiwidyatama