Carrying a noken bag to become the icon of PON XX Papua

Noken bags made from traditional Papuan indigenous crafts will be used as souvenir icons at the XX Papua National Sports Week (PON) which will take place from 2-15 October 2021 as a cultural work of local wisdom.

Based on KONI Decree No. 29 of 2021, PON XX Papua is scheduled to take place from October 2-15, 2021 in four clusters of match organizers including Jayapura City, Jayapura Regency, Mimika and Merauke Regency, competing in 37 sports, 56 disciplines, 681 match numbers and 6,496 athletes participated. .

Making the noken bag as a souvenir for the participants of the XX Papua PON, which is the result of the original cultural work belonging to the Papuan people, is a very essential value that symbolizes a regional identity.

Noken is one of the traditional handicrafts in the form of woven from Papuans made from plants, such as pandanus, orchids, and others.

Indigenous Papuans (OAP) with noken bags have very strong social and emotional ties because they have given birth to a reciprocal relationship that influences each other between the maker, the object made, and the user.

Thus, the inner bond between the craftsman, noken, and the user is inseparable because in this craft they have formed a mutually exclusive relationship.

Noken bags as traditional crafts have a very influential role in people's lives, such as the bonding relationship between humans and nature.

In addition to the human bond with nature, the inner bond is also attached to the user. Like women in Papua, they make noken usually as a tool for the needs of their children.

The noken bag is used to transport goods and children because it also functions to foster a sense of love between mother and child as clothing for women which symbolizes the inner bond between mother and child.

In addition, the noken bag is also to stimulate the child's growth and development to always love his homeland and maintain the authenticity of the indigenous Papuan culture.

So when Papuan children are wandering out of town, the noken bag they use as a tool to shed feelings of longing for their mother and ancestral land.

They represent this feeling of longing by carrying a noken that is worn around their limbs because it can symbolize the distinctive identity of the indigenous Papuan community.

Noken has become part of the life of the Papuan people. It's not even just during elections, in any decision making in indigenous peoples, noken is routinely used.

Noken Papua as an intangible heritage, inherited by most Papuan women within the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, has become an artifact attached to the identity of Papuan women.

From the cycle of birth, life, and death, Papuan women are always united with Noken Papua. The existence of Noken Papua is a marker of the identity of Papuan women to be respected according to their dignity as human beings who are female and as creatures of God.

Jayapura Mayor Benhur Tommi Mano admitted that the Jayapura City Government had fostered a number of traditional Papuan noken bag craftsmen to support PON XX Papua.

Noken bag craftsmen who have been fostered by the relevant agencies in Jayapura City have been encouraged to produce noken bags in large quantities to meet the needs of PON XX Papua.

The traditional noken bag, according to him, will become one of the regional icons for the implementation of the XX Papua PON so that the Jayapura City Government continues to encourage noken craftsmen to increase the number of bag production.

"We hope that during the implementation of the national sports event in Papua, Papuan mothers who sell noken bags can earn a lot of income from selling noken bags," he said.

He admitted that currently, noken bag enthusiasts have integrated into the lives of Indonesian people outside Papua because they have been known since they were declared world heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, France, December 4, 2012.

"Noken, which is commonly known as a typical knitted bag from Papua, is recognized as an intangible cultural heritage," he said.

Noken is known in all ethnic groups in Papua, namely in the provinces of Papua and West Papua. Noken's daily functions are also very diverse according to the size and type of material used.

Such a large size noken is used to carry garden products, seafood, wood, babies, small animals, groceries, and also as a place to store things that are hung in the house.

While noken with a small size to carry personal items, including cellphones, money, betel nut, food, books and other necessities.

The use when wearing this noken also varies, such as being hung in front of the chest, slung on the left and right, and tied to the head.

Noken is also interpreted as a "walking house" which contains all the necessities for the indigenous Papuan community.

For native Papuans, the noken bag is a symbol of pride and generosity because indirectly this craft has given birth to skills and understanding of Papuan traditional culture.

The staff of the Presidential Staff Office, Della Amran, in the webinar for the implementation of the XX Papua PON, invited all ministries, institutions, media and the public in Papua to support the implementation of the XX Papua PON.

He invited, at the launch 100 days before the XX Papua PON to use the traditional Papuan noken bag as a form of support for the success of the national sports agenda in Papua.

"Let's together use the traditional Papuan bag noken when launching 100 days before the XX Papua PON is scheduled for June 24, 2021," he said.

SOURCE: https://www.antaranews.com/berita/2207162/mengusung-tas-noken-menjadi-ikon-pon-xx-papua