On the morning of April 26, Beatrice Pekei, a 30-year-old Paniai woman, and her daughter, Elisabeth Mote, sat on the porch of their house in Timika, West Papua. The two skillfully wove together sun-dried wood fibers. Every so often they fell into serious coversation as they checked their progress. Elisabeth, still a teenager, is just as agile a weaver as her mother. Various sizes and styles of noken bags were piled around them.

Beatrice said she