Takiding is a traditional woven basket with shoulder straps associated with the

Murut Murut may refer to: * Murut people The Murut are an indigenous ethnic group, comprising 29 sub-ethnic groups inhabiting the northern inland regions of Borneo. The Murutic languages are a family of half a dozen closely related Austronesian lan ...

, Bisaya Brunei, Dusun Brunei and Kedayan people in

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

. It is made with bamboo, rattan and tree leaves and traditionally woven by hand.

Names

The local spelling variants include ''takiding'', ''tekiding'' or ''tikiding''. It is denoted as a

word by the Malaysian language authority Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. It is not to be confused with the same name as known in upper

Padas River The Padas River ( ms, Sungai Padas) is a river in Interior Division, southwestern Sabah of Malaysia. It has a total length of from its headwaters in the mountains of northwest Sabah to its outlet at the South China Sea, southwest of Beaufort, M ...

in Sabah, whereby the latter is another name of barait, a traditional basket-backpack of the

Murut people The Murut are an indigenous ethnic group, comprising 29 sub-ethnic groups inhabiting the northern inland regions of Borneo. The Murutic languages are a family of half a dozen closely related Austronesian languages. The Murut can be found mainly ...

Design

Takiding is cylindrical with a square base and four columns to keep it upright. The top has a thick, circular rim and is lidless. The diameter in the middle may be narrower than those at the base and the top. There are two shoulder straps which are fastened to the base and the columns or the rim; smaller takiding may not have shoulder straps. Takiding resembles ''boyong'' or ''sesaging'', regarded as the typical traditional Murut basket-backpack.

Creation

Takiding is made with materials obtained from the forest, which include bamboo, ''bamban'' ('' Donax canniformis''),

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of ...

and tree leaves. Either ''bamban'' or bamboo is used to make the 'body', whereas rattan and tree leaves are used to make the frames. Depending on the size, it takes three to five days to make a takiding. It is traditionally woven by hand and may involve additional physical support from other people, which usually comprise other family members or neighbours. The weaving knowledge is passed down from the parents and grandparents, although this has become less common. Nevertheless, the Brunei Arts and Handicraft Centre has since provided courses on weaving takiding and other traditional handicrafts.

Uses

Takiding was traditionally used to carry goods while visiting homes, going to the ''tamu'' (local traditional market) and to the

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field (agriculture), field of arable land used for growing Aquatic plant, semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in sout ...

. It is also used to carry and store harvested

paddy Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *An List of ethnic slurs#P, ethnic slur for an Irishman Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon *Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird ...

(unmilled rice). Today, takiding is no longer used to carry goods as it has been replaced with modern backpacks. Instead, it has become a home decoration, in particular displayed in the living room.

References

Works cited

* {{Bags Culture of Brunei Bags