The Transformation of Noken Papua: Understanding the Dynamics of Noken’s Commodification as the Impact of UNESCO’s Heritage Recognition

Alice Salhuteru  -  Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Salatiga, Indonesia
Fred Keith Hutubessy*    -  Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Salatiga, Indonesia

(*) Corresponding Author

This research was motivated by previous studies that discussed Noken from various points of view but did not examine aspects of the commodification of Noken as an implication of the world heritage label from UNESCO. Noken is a native Papuan knit bag that has high cultural values, sacred entity, and a source of life; as a container for carrying garden products and animal hunting products. Noken is also a form of maturity initiation, Papuan woman who can knit noken may enter the marriage phase. Applying the qualitative method, with observations and interviews with women knitting and selling it in Jayapura as informants, this study found that: firstly, Noken had undergone massive economic commodification, started with UNESCO's recognition of inherited noken as intangible, which led to more and more traded noken. Secondly, noken has transformed values, especially about the noken value that animates them. The transformation of values in noken is a necessity in the dynamics of the social, economic, and cultural changes of the Papuan. Thirdly, by knitting and selling it, they are trying to preserve the sacred value of noken, also as a strategy to survive economically in encountering the impact of the capitalist system.

Keywords: noken; cultural heritage; commodification; transformation; Papua

  1. Baharuddin, Alfini, B. Hari Wibisono, Budi Prayitno, and M. Sani Roychansyah. 2015. “Heterogenity of Amber and Komin in Shaping Settlement Pattern of Jayapura City.” Komunitas: International Journal of Indonesian Society and Culture 7(2):324–32. doi: 10.15294/komunitas.v7i2.3287.
  2. Batlajery, Semuel, and Caecilia Heny Setya Wati. 2019. “Development Strategy of Noken Product on Local Community in Sota Merauke.” International Journal of Social Science and Business 3(2):145–53. doi: 10.23887/ijssb.v3i2.17587.
  3. Bobii, Silfester. 2019. “Makna Teologis Noken dalam Budaya Orang Mee.” Jurnal Teologi Kontekstual Fides et Ratio 4(2):51–74. doi: 10.47025/fer.v4i2.3.
  4. Brauchler, Birgit. 2014. “Modes of Belonging in West Papua: Local Symbolism, National Politics and International Cultural Concepts.” RIMA: Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs 48(1):35–66.
  5. Cahyadi, Anggoro, Damarjati Kun Marjanto, Hubertus Sadirin, Titus Pikei, Suci Paresti, Maria Listiyanti, Apriyanti Wulandari, Dewi Sri Handayani N, Nur Berlian, Ihya Ulumuddin, Kasiyanto Kasiyanto, and Suyud Winarno. 2013. Modul Pengembangan Muatan Lokal Noken. Jakarta: Direktorat Internalisasi Nilai dan Diplomasi Budaya Direktorat Jendral Kebudayaan Kemen¬terian Pendidikan dan Budaya.
  6. Creswell, John W. 2007. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Method Aproaches. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
  7. Dekme, Dedi. 2015. “Pengrajin Noken Pada Suku Bangsa Amungme di Desa Limau Asri Kecamatan Iwaka Kabupaten Mimika Provinsi Papua.” Holistik: Journal of Social and Culture 8(16).
  8. Dewi, Machya Astuti, Meilan Sugiarto, Iva Rachmawati, and Sri Issundari. 2018. “Noken: Women Empowerment a Tourism Industry in Papua.” in Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Community Development (AMCA 2018). Paris: Atlantis Press.
  9. dil/wen. 2019. “Lestarikan Noken, Pemkot Terima Penghargaan.” Cenderawasih Pos. Retrieved (http://cenderawasihpos.co.id/lestarikan-noken-pemkot-terima-piagam-penghargaan/).
  10. Iek, Mesak, and Sarlota Arrang Ratang. 2020. “Perception of Creative Economy in Supporting Family Economy In Jayapura City.” Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal 7(4):351–59. doi: 10.14738/assrj.74.8068.
  11. Irianto, Agus Maladi. 2016. “Komodifikasi Budaya di Era Ekonomi Global terhadap Kearifan Lokal: Studi Kasus Eksistensi Industri Pariwisata dan Kesenian Tradisional di Jawa Tengah.” Jurnal Theologia 27(1):212–36. doi: 10.21580/teo.2016.27.1.935.
  12. Istiqomah, Nurul, Dg Pabalik, and Nur Hidaya. 2019. “Eksistensi Noken dalam Modernisasi pada Masyarakat di Kota Sorong.” Jurnal Faksi: Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik 4(2):1–16.
  13. Januar, Arie. 2017. “Fungsi, Makna, dan Eksistensi Noken sebagai Simbol Identitas Orang Papua.” Patrawidya: Seri Penerbitan Penelitian Sejarah dan Budaya 8(1):57–69.
  14. Juniati, Wike. 2019. “Noken Literation: A Wisdom Local in Improving Investment Awareness Communities.” Airlangga International Journal of Islamic Economics and Finance 2(2):105–22. doi: 10.20473/aijief.v2i2.20642.
  15. Kanem, Veronika, and Adele Norris. 2018. “An Examination of the Noken and Indigenous Cultural Identity: Voices of Papuan Women.” Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change 3(1):1–12. doi: 10.20897/jcasc/86189.
  16. Kluckhohn C. 1953. Universal Categories of Culture. Anthropology Today. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  17. Koentjaraningrat. 1987. “Anthropology in Indonesia.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 18(2):217–34. doi: 10.1017/S002246340002052X.
  18. Koentjaraningrat. 2010. Manusia dan Kebudayaan di Indonesia. Jakarta: Djambatan.
  19. Malak, Stepanus, and Nugraha Nugraha. 2012. Otonomi Khusus Papua. Arraafi.
  20. Marit, Lenny Elisabeth. 2018. “Noken dan Per-empuan Papua: Analisis Wacana Gender dan Ideologi.” Melanesia: Jurnal Ilmiah Kajian Bahasa dan Sastra 1(1):33–42. doi: 10.30862/jm.v1i1.736.
  21. Marit, Lenny Elisabeth, and Hugo Warami. 2015. “Bahasa, Sastra, dan Pembelajaran sebagai Basis Industri Kreatif.” pp. 902–8 in Noken Papua: Sumber Industri Kreatif Komunitas di Tanah Papua. Jakarta: Universitas Negeri Jakarta.
  22. Mosco, Vincent. 1996. The Political Economy of Communication: Rethinking and Renewal. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
  23. Mosco, Vincent. 2009. The Political Economy of Communication. 2nd ed. California: SAGE Publications Ltd.
  24. Pekei, Titus. 2013. Cermin Noken Papua: Perspektif Kearifan Mata Budaya Papuani. Nabire: Ecology Papua Institute.
  25. Pratitaswari, Anindita. 2018. “Democratic Election of Noken in Papua.” Law Research Review Quarterly 4(3):507–22. doi: 10.15294/snh.v4i03.26986.
  26. Ramah, Ramah. 2019. “Berharap Noken Bisa Menggantikan Kantong Plastik” ed. S. Syofiardi. Jubi.Co.Id. Retrieved (https://jubi.co.id/berharap-noken-bisa-menggantikan-kantong-plastik/).
  27. Ransta, L. Lekatompessy. 2018. “‘Mama-Mama’ in Papua and the Access to Market.” p. 08015 in E3S Web of Conferences. Vol. 73, ed. Hadiyanto, Maryono, and B. Warsito.
  28. Risamasu, P. I. M., M. Kaok, S. Siman, and N. Kadir. 2019. “Potential of Noken as Part of a Creative Economy in Improving the Economy of Indigenous Papuans.” IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 343:012221. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/343/1/012221.
  29. Ronsumbre, Nelwan. 2019. “Sistem Noken Papua: Manifestasi Demokrasi Berbasis Kearifan Lokal.” Sospol: Jurnal Sosial Politik 5(2):261–76. doi: 10.22219/sospol.v5i2.7388.
  30. Syufi, Yafed, Made Budiarsa, I. Wayan Simpen, and Made Sri Satyawati. 2019. “The Portrait of Noken as a Manifestation of the Existence of Papuans.” E-Journal of Linguistics 13(2): 303–13. doi: 10.24843/e-jl.2019.v13.i02.p09.
  31. Warsito, H. R. 2012. Antropologi Budaya. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Ombak.
  32. Weber, Max. 2005. The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism. London: Taylor & Francis e-Library.

Open Access Copyright (c) 2020 JSW (Jurnal Sosiologi Walisongo)
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Publisher:
Sociology Laboratory - Department of Sociology
Faculty of Social and Political Sciences
Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo Semarang
Central Java, Indonesia

 

 
apps