Noken

{{Short description|Knotted or woven bag native to Indonesia}} {{italic title}} {{Infobox clothing type | name = Noken | image_file = Noken.jpg | caption = ''Noken'' bags | type = Knotted or woven bag | material = | location = Western New Guinea, Indonesia }} {{Infobox intangible heritage | ICH = Noken multifunctional knotted or woven bag, handcraft of the people of Papua | State Party = Indonesia | ID = 00619 | Region = APA | Year = 2012 | Session = 7th | List = Need of Urgent Safeguarding }} [[File:UvA-BC 300.382 - Siboga - inheemse bewoners van het eiland Metu-Debi, gelegen nabij de monding van de Humboldt Baai.jpg|thumb|260px|Papuan women and her {{lang|bhw|noken}}s in Metu Debi island off Youtefa Bay, Jayapura, Indonesia, {{circa}} 1899]] '''''Noken''''' ({{ety|bhw|inoken}}) is a traditional Papuan multifunctional knotted or woven bag native to the Western New Guinea region, Indonesia. 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 as a cultural heritage of Indonesia.<ref name=UNESCO>{{cite web|title="Noken multifunctional knotted or woven bag, handcraft of the people of Papua", Inscribed in 2012 (7.COM) on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding |url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00011&USL=00619 |publisher= UNESCO |accessdate=10 October 2014}}</ref> Women carrying noken are still a common sight in Wamena.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/09/26/transforming-wamena-papua%E2%80%99s-tourism-icon.html |title=Transforming Wamena into Papua's tourism icon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510062132/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/09/26/transforming-wamena-papua%E2%80%99s-tourism-icon.html |archive-date=2013-05-10 |url-status=dead |work=The Jakarta Post |author=Nethy Dharma Somba |date=26 September 2011 |accessdate=15 March 2013}}</ref>

On December 4, 2020, Google celebrated noken with a Google Doodle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/celebrating-noken-papua/ |title=Celebrating Noken Papua |website=Google |date=4 December 2020 }}</ref>

==Usage in politics== {{Main|Noken system}} thumb|center|Map of regencies which implement the noken system for elections according to General Elections Commission. <br>Red: practiced the noken system for the 2019 elections. Pink: used to practice the noken system, but not for the 2019 elections

In several areas of Central Papua and Highland Papua, ''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) casts votes for the tribe or ''noken gantung'', where the tribe members and the chief collectively decide to vote unanimously in the regional leadership elections.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/02/05/papuans-remote-areas-prefer-noken039-ballot-box.html |title=Papuans in remote areas prefer 'noken' to ballot box |author=Nethy Dharma Somba |date=5 February 2009 |work=The Jakarta Post |url-access=registration |accessdate=15 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/01/22/s-sulawesi-set-vote-papua-rules-noken.html |title=S. Sulawesi set for vote; Papua rules on 'noken' |author1=Andi Hajramurni |author2=Nethy Dharma Somba |date=22 January 2013 |work=The Jakarta Post |url-access=registration |accessdate=15 March 2013}}</ref> Opponents to the system have, in the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, challenged the use of ''noken'' as fraught with potential for abuse. The court defended the limited use of ''noken'' for avoiding inter-tribal warfare, but ruled that regencies that have used a one man, one vote system cannot return to ''noken'' system.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mkri.id/index.php?page=web.Berita&id=10678 |title=MK Tegaskan Pemilu dengan Sistem Noken Hanya Digunakan secara Terbatas |date=11 March 2015 |publisher=Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia|accessdate=12 October 2022}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news |title=11 Kabupaten di Papua Tengah dan Pegunungan Pakai Sistem Noken pada Pemilu 2024 |url=https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2024/02/13/10005281/11-kabupaten-di-papua-tengah-dan-pegunungan-pakai-sistem-noken-pada-pemilu?page=all |access-date=7 May 2024 |work=KOMPAS.com |date=13 February 2024 |language=id}}</ref>

==Gallery== <gallery mode=packed heights="150px" caption="Selling and Making Noken"> File:Membuat noken.jpg File:Merajut dan menjual Noken.jpg File:Noken.jpg File:Merajut Noken.jpg File:Noken Indonesia.jpg </gallery>

==See also== {{Portal|Art|Indonesia}} * Indonesian art * Culture of Indonesia

==References== {{reflist}}

{{Indonesia UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage}} {{UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding}} {{Crochet}}

Category:Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding Category:Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity Category:Culture of Indonesia Category:Culture of Papua (province) Category:Indonesian words and phrases Category:Bags Category:Culture of Papua New Guinea Category:Crochet