''Noken'' () is a traditional Papuan multifunctional knotted or woven

bag A bag, also known regionally as a sack, is a common tool in the form of a floppy container, typically made of cloth, leather, bamboo, paper, or plastic. The use of bags predates recorded history, with the earliest bags being lengths of animal s ...

native to the

Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region ...

region,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. Its distinctive usage, which involves being hung from the head, is traditionally used to carry various goods, and also children.

Cultural significance

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 Intergove ...

as a cultural heritage of

. Women carrying noken are still a common sight in

Wamena Wamena, also known as the District of Wamena ''(Distrik Wamena)'', is a large town in the Western New Guinea region of Indonesia. It also serves as the Regency seat, seat of Jayawijaya Regency. It is the largest town in the province of Highland ...

. On December 4, 2020,

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

celebrated noken with a

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

Usage in politics

In several areas of

Central Papua Central Papua, officially the Central Papua Province () is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province located in the central region of Western New Guinea. It was formally established on 25 July 2022 from the former eight western regencies of ...

and

Highland Papua Highland Papua () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, which roughly follows the borders of the Papuan customary region of Lano-Pago (often shortened to La Pago). It covers an area of and had a population of 1,467,050 according to ...

, ''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 a big man (primarily chieftains) cast votes 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 the

Constitutional Court of Indonesia The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia () is one of the apex courts in Indonesia along with the Indonesian Supreme Court. Its primary role is reviewing the constitutionality of Acts (''undang-undang''). It also has other functi ...

. The court defended the limited use of ''noken'' for avoiding inter-tribal warfare, but ruled that regencies that have used

one man, one vote "One man, one vote" or "one vote, one value" is a slogan used to advocate for the principle of equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of democracy and political equality, especially with regard to electoral reforms like ...

system cannot return to ''noken'' system. For the 2024 election, twelve regencies in Central and Highland Papua used the ''noken'' system to some extent, and seven of the twelve regencies used the ''noken'' system in all polling stations.

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 Culture of Indonesia Papua (province) culture Indonesian words and phrases Bags Culture of Papua New Guinea Crochet {{indonesia-stub

Cultural significance

Usage in politics

Gallery

See also

References