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#noken — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #noken, aggregated by home.social.

  1. Colonial Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua

    A powerful new indigenous art exhibition has highlighted the tragic loss of #WestPapua’s cultural identity due to #deforestation for #palmoil and #sugarcane monoculture plantations. A situation perpetuated by the illegal Indonesian colonisation of Melanesia. The ancient Melanesian tradition of noken weaving is under threat, as military-backed land grabs force Indigenous Muyu communities from their forests. Protect people and culture, when you shop make sure you #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights

    #News: Exhibition highlights vanishing of West Papua’s UNESCO recognised #noken weaving for #palmoil and #sugarcane in #WestPapua. Reject corporate #landgrabbing for palm oil in when you shop! #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-bmj

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    Asia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. https://eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/researcher-warns-over-west-papuan-deforestation-impact-on-traditional-noken-weaving

    West Papuan doctoral candidate Veronika T. Kanem has issued a stark warning about the cultural and ecological destruction unfolding in Indonesia-occupied West Papua. As the region faces what may be the world’s largest deforestation project—two million hectares for palm oil and sugarcane—centuries-old Indigenous traditions are being pushed to the edge of existence.

    Veronika T. Kanem, whose exhibition “Noken/Men: String Bags of the Muyu Tribe of Southern West Papua” opened at Auckland University, says the forced removal of her people from their forests has endangered not only biodiversity but the sacred art of noken weaving—a practice deeply embedded in the identity and social fabric of her father’s tribe, the Muyu.

    Known locally as “men,” the noken is more than a string bag. Made from inner fibres of the genemo tree and other natural materials, noken symbolises a woman’s womb, a vessel of life used in ceremonies, food gathering, child-rearing, and cultural gift-giving. It holds economic, spiritual, and ancestral significance across Melanesia.

    Now, industrial agriculture and military occupation threaten the entire cultural landscape. These new plantations are not only destroying forests; they are severing communities from their knowledge systems, their land, and each other.

    Kanem’s research applies Indigenous Melanesian methodologies, using the act of noken weaving as a metaphor for knowledge, kinship, and resistance. Her work captures the lived experience of displacement and climate injustice at the intersection of colonial occupation, corporate extraction, and Indigenous resilience.

    The Auckland exhibition also screened a documentary showcasing noken weaving traditions from across West Papua, including Asmat, Nabire, and Wamena. Speakers at the event, including Pacific scholars and artists, praised the project as a vital act of cultural preservation and defiance.

    As Indonesia accelerates its colonial development schemes, the voices of West Papuans like Kanem are essential. Indigenous peoples must lead solutions to environmental destruction. Without indigenous justice, there can be no climate repair.

    Defend West Papua’s forests and ancient indigenous cultures. Reject palm oil-driven genocide. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights #IndigenousRights

    Read more: Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving (Evening Report, 2025)

    Asia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. https://eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/researcher-warns-over-west-papuan-deforestation-impact-on-traditional-noken-weaving

    ENDS

    Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry

    Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil

    An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…

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    Papuan women will not be silenced while palm oil behemoths consume their land

    In the colonised region of #WestPapua, Indigenous Melanesian women’s rights are being forgotten as companies and the Indonesian government seizes ancestral land for palm oil and sugar cane plantations — without owners’ consent.…

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    Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua 

    A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…

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    Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism

    Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism | A coalition of palm oil workers in Indonesia has unveiled industry practices that mirror colonial exploitation, including land grabbing, poor working conditions, and environmental…

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    Papua’s ‘Empty Lands’: A Dangerous Myth Displacing Indigenous Peoples

    In #WestPapua, on illegally colonised and disputed land taken by violence from Melanesian Indigenous peoples last century by Indonesian forces, authorities label indigenous lands as “empty”. This is done in order to justify…

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    2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

    Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

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    Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

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    Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

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    The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

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    How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

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    3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

    https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

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    #art #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #deforestation #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #landRights #landgrabbing #News #noken #PalmOil #palmoil #slavery #sugarcane #WestPapua