For the indigenous women of Belu regency in East Nusa Tenggara, possessing the ability to weave traditional woven fabric or tenun ikat is a matter of great pride.

Besides the captivating scenery, the province is famously known for its tenun ikat, which contains not only local wisdom but legacy passed down for generations.

Today, many local women still weave for a living to support their family, while at the same time teaching their daughters to weave to ensure the cultural heritage lives on.

Yusti Namriahoar, a resident of Faturika village, Raimanuk district, has spent two-thirds of her life weaving tenun to earn money. With dozens of other local women, Yusti dedicates hours of her time from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. six days a week, except on Sundays when they go to church, to weave tenun. The 39-year-old woman first learned about weaving from her grandmother when she graduated from elementary school at the age of 12, after which Yusti did not continue her education but focused on weaving instead.

“We know how to weave by heart,” she said while weaving a piece of cloth using a loom, “Our tenun patterns are different and there are certain patterns that only I can make.”

The cloth that the women produce is sold at markets in Atambua, with prices varying depending on the difficulty, size and the time spent in weaving the tenun.

For instance, the price for a piece of tenun that takes two to three days to make ranges between Rp 250,000 (US$17.31) and Rp 300,000. Meanwhile, tenun ikat with many handmade details and patterns could take up to one year to make and fetch Rp 2.5 million per piece, Yusti said.

“We weave tenun in order to earn money, so we can send our children to school. We can’t just sit and wait for our husbands to work,” she added.

Tenun fabrics display certain patterns, usually with one main strip featuring different motifs. A popular pattern features a snake or a gecko, which locals call a dragon, a symbol of luck for the people who see it.

The pieces are worn in both daily use and special traditional ceremonies. Many families also keep old sacred fabrics as heirlooms, handing them down for many generations in the family.

“I have two daughters and I also teach them how to weave when they come home from school,” Yusti said, “If children were not taught [to weave], who would continue our tenun when we die?”

Throughout the region, women play a major role in preserving tenun ikat, which is widely seen as one of Indonesia’s most prized items of cultural heritage.

In Belu, however, the tradition of weaving is kept alive particularly because women who can weave tenun are regarded with esteem, especially by potential husbands.

Frid Da Costa, a man from a clan in the Fialaran kingdom, one of two ancient kingdoms that still exist in Belu, said the ability to weave tenun determined a woman’s status as a partner.

“When a woman can weave, it means she is patient, meticulous and tender, meaning she can make a good wife,” Frid said.

Similarly, Yohannes Atti, an artist from Belu’s ancient Lamaknen kingdom, said that in his culture, when a man said to his mother that he liked a woman, the mother would ask whether the woman could weave or not.

There is also a pantun (traditional verse) about women who cannot weave, which translates as “I stand at your front gate but I don’t see a loom in the house”

“A woman is valued as a woman if she knows how to weave,” Yohannes said.

Education and Culture Ministry Cultural Director General Hilmar Farid said one of the challenges in preserving tenun was the yarn. Traditionally, weavers made their own cotton and made natural dyes, however, this takes more time and costs more. Due to market demand they now opt for manufactured yarns with brighter colors.

The government plans to get together with traditional weavers across the regions as this challenge is also faced by other weavers in Tapanuli, North Sumatra, and Toraja, South Sulawesi.

“The best way would be to plant cotton, but this is just not feasible because it would take more time and the price would be higher,” Hilmar said, “It is true that we’re departing from tradition, but we must find ways to develop it for the future.”

He recently visited Belu to cooperate with the local administration in boosting local culture through the ministry’s Indonesiana platform, which is aimed at supporting the preservation and management of local culture to ensure its sustainability.

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