As a cultural heritage, ulap doyo weaving needs to be widely recognized and preserved.
Ulap doyo weaving is a distinctive craft as well as the identity of the Dayak Benuaq tribe in West Kutai, East Kalimantan. This woven fabric is known for its quality and environmental friendliness. The making is not arbitrary.
Ulap Doyo weaving is thought to have existed before the 17th century, and was famous since the time of the Kutai Kingdom. Ulap in the local language means cloth, and doyo is taken from the name of the plant from which it is made.
In East Kalimantan, especially Tanjung Isuy Village, Jempang Subdistrict, Kutai Regency, Samarinda, there are many wild plants similar to pandanus with wider leaves called doyo.
Doyo generally grows on the outskirts of forests and fields. The leaf fibers are known to be very strong enough to be used as yarn.
There are at least four types of doyo varieties that are commonly used as weaving materials, namely doyo temoyo, pentih, biang and bone.
The women of the Dayak Benuaq tribe who inhabit the region originally wove traditional doyo cloth to be used as material for daily clothing and traditional ceremonies and dances.
In its development, ulap doyo was then transformed into various fabric-based handicrafts such as wallets, bags, and wall hangings.
The handicrafts, which are characterized as hard and rough, are in demand by domestic and foreign travelers. Since the late 1970s, Tanjung Isuy Village has been known as the Ulap Doyo Weaving Center.
In 2016, the Regional National Craft Council (Dekranasda) of West Kutai patented the ownership of ulap doyo woven fabric.
Ulap Doyo's Special Feature
Ulap doyo weaving is considered special because of its high quality and environmental friendliness. All the materials used to make it are obtained naturally. Including natural dyes from plants.
The black color is obtained from the smoke from burning resin or kebuau tree leaf fibers boiled with doyo leaf fibers. Red color is obtained from lado stone or natural stone, gelinggang fruit seeds, and uar tree bark. Green color is obtained from putri malu leaves, yellow color from turmeric tubers, and brown color from oter wood roots.
Anthropological findings have mentioned that there is a correlation between the motifs in ulap doyo weaving and the social strata and identity of the wearer. This indicates the existence of a caste system in the past. For example, the waniq ngelukag motif is used by ordinary people, and the jaunt nguku motif is used by nobles or kings.
In general, the motifs in ulap doyo fabrics are inspired by the flora and fauna on the banks of the Mahakam River, or the theme of war between humans and dragons. All motifs contain philosophy.
Among them are the dragon motif that symbolizes the beauty of a woman, the limar or boat motif as a symbol of cooperation in business, the timang or tiger motif that symbolizes the strength of a man, the tangga tukar toray or staircase motif that means protecting business and cooperation in society, and various other motifs.
In order to be used as raw material for weaving, doyo leaves need to be slashed following the direction of the leaf fibers until they become fine fibers while being rinsed in river water. This technique is also called dilorot. The fibers are then dried in the sun, then woven and twisted to form coarse threads. These threads are usually dyed with natural dyes, and then woven into cloth.
The whole technique of making doyo ikat weaving takes quite a long time, up to a month. Since it was picked, there are a total of 20 stages that need to be passed. Especially when weaving, it must be done carefully if you don't want to repeat from the beginning.
For this reason, not just anyone can master this technique. Dayak Benuaq women have mastered the weaving process since they were teenagers, where since childhood they have absorbed and learned how to weave from older women.
Prestasi dan hambatan
Appreciating a number of these features, in 2013, the hereditary heritage of ulap doyo woven fabric was designated as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Education and Culture.
As a protection and preservation effort, ulap doyo was again designated as an intangible cultural heritage for the second time along with 32 other traditional fabrics.
In fact, this weaving is even more global because it has been used for fashion events abroad, and is much favored by the international community.
Even so, cultural shifts have occurred and obstacles are still encountered.
Beginning in the 90s, forest areas and free fields in Kutai began to erode due to commercial use. As a result, doyo plants and natural dyes became difficult to find. As an alternative, natural dyes were replaced by chemicals, and doyo materials were replaced by sewing thread.
So far, there are still many printed materials with motifs similar to ulap doyo that have developed, so the culture of doyo weaving is less promoted.
Luckily, the increasing demand for ulap doyo weaving by foreign travelers and a number of non-governmental organizations in Kalimantan has led Benuaq Dayak indigenous craftsmen to preserve the environmentally friendly ulap doyo tradition.
That is why the attention of the wider community and the government is needed so that the rare and forgotten ulap doyo weaving culture will continue to grow.
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