Noken

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

Noken

Noken bags
Type	Knotted or woven bag
Place of origin	Western New Guinea, Indonesia

In 2012, noken was listed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists as a cultural heritage of Indonesia. Women carrying noken are still a common sight in Wamena.

On December 4, 2020, Google celebrated noken with a Google Doodle.

 

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 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 the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, although the court defended the limited use of noken for avoiding inter-tribal warfare, and regencies that have used One man, one vote system cannot return to noken system.

• Selling and Making Noken
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• Indonesian art
• Culture of Indonesia