''Noken'' (from

Biak Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and c ...

: ) is a traditional Indonesian multifunctional knotted or woven bag native to the

Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...

region,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Its distinctive usage, which involves being hung from the head, is traditionally used to carry various goods, and also children. In 2012, ''noken'' was listed in the

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergover ...

as a cultural heritage of

. Women carrying noken are still a common sight in

Wamena Wamena is a town and the capital of the Indonesian province of Highland Papua. It also serves as the seat of Jayawijaya Regency. It is the largest town in Indonesian Papua's highlands, in the Baliem Valley and had a population of 64,967 at the ...

In several areas of

Central Papua Central Papua, officially the Central Papua Province ( id, Provinsi Papua Tengah) is an Indonesian province located in the central region of Western New Guinea. It was formally established on 11 November 2022 from the former eight western regencie ...

and

Highland Papua Highland Papua ( id, Papua Pegunungan) is a province of Indonesia, which roughly follows the borders of Papuan customary region of Lano-Pago, shortened to La Pago. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,408,641 according to the official es ...

, ''noken'' – instead of the usual ballot box – is preferred as a way to place ballots, where it is recognized as a ballot tool and system where Big man (primarily the chieftains) cast vote for the tribe or ''noken gantung'', where the tribe members and the chief collectively decide to vote unanimously in the regional leadership elections. Opponents to the system has challenged the use of ''noken'' as fraught with potential for abuse and have challenged it in

Constitutional Court of Indonesia The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia) is one of the apex courts in Indonesia along with the Indonesian Supreme Court. Its primary role is reviewing the constitutionality of statutes ...

, although the court defended the limited use of ''noken'' for avoiding inter-tribal warfare, and regencies that have used

One man, one vote "One man, one vote", or "one person, one vote", expresses the principle that individuals should have equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of political equality to refer to such electoral reforms as universal suffrage, ...

system cannot return to ''noken'' system. On December 4, 2020,

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

celebrated noken with a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

Gallery

File:Membuat noken.jpg File:Merajut dan menjual Noken.jpg File:Noken.jpg File:Merajut Noken.jpg File:Noken Indonesia.jpg

References

Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity Indonesian culture Papua (province) culture Indonesian words and phrases Bags Papua New Guinean culture Crochet {{indonesia-stub

Gallery

See also

References