Traditional houses (uma-lulik in the local language) are considered cultural centers and roots for Timorese people and a symbol of national identity that defines who we are. These houses are also considered sacred by the local community and places for generations of families to gather and communicate with their ancestors. Ritual ceremonies, which consist of ICH elements, are associated with uma-lulik. The traditional houses are known as a main pillar in regard to social interaction, with each individual integrated into the sacred houses since birth.\n\nTimor-Leste’s traditional houses play an important role that embraces various ICH elements, for instance sau-batar (corn harvesting, a ritual celebration usually conducted every six months) and finadu (soul day, a ritual celebrating death, which is usually held on 2 November every year). Two perspectives can be used to describe aspects of the uma-lulik: first, as a material construction, usually recognized as tangible heritage. If we are specifically looking into a piece of material/tangible heritage itself, it’s the same as other traditional houses around the world—that is to say, the overall physical shaping with local materials such as timber, bamboo, rope, and grasses. However, from another perspective, if we look into the intangible cultural elements associated with uma-lulik, then we can see that the traditional houses of Timor-Leste are totally different from others. Usually, constructing a uma-lulik takes a long time due to the various ritual ceremonies that are conducted at every stage of the build.\n\nCauses of Uma-Lulik Endangerment\nThe existence of traditional houses has been endangered due to conflict and the negative effects of globalization and human interference. The current economic expansion and infrastructure development displace local communities, who maintain cultural value. As a new country in Southeast Asia, Timor-Leste is currently facing huge challenges, and most traditional houses have been destroyed and abandoned by local communities.\n\nThe long process of conflict has had effects on the cultural heritage value, specifically of traditional houses themselves. Many uma-lulik were destroyed and abandoned during the Indonesian occupation (1975–1999). The existence of the uma-lulik was dramatically reduced due to most people being classed as suspect and ritual ceremonies being prohibited by the Indonesian military. In 1999, many traditional houses were destroyed during the final period of Indonesian occupation. The long-running background of conflict also includes the Japanese attacks between 1942 and 1945 and the Portuguese colonialism period for almost five centuries (1512–1975). The overall stages of occupation and turmoil has put Timor-Leste’s traditional houses at risk.\n\nSafeguarding Local Knowledge\nTransmitting local knowledge (the construction technique) should be considered a priority and must be safeguarded before it is lost (the Lia-Na’in are the oldest community leading ritual ceremonies). Local knowledge is a crucial indicator, meaning that people are vital resources and significant actors. The Lia-Na’in have high competence related to cultural decision making, including the overall house construction process.\n\nIt is important for the main ICH elements and concepts to be transmitted for future generations to safeguard traditional houses will have a positive impact in maintaining other ICH elements such as sau-batar and finadu. This could be achieved through networking cooperation to enhance advocacy, documentation, and research.\n\nPhoto : The formation of traditional houses in the Atu-Aben Clan, Bobonaro Municipality, Timor-Leste. Site abandoned by the local community. ⓒ Abraão Mendonça, Timor-Leste National Commission for UNESCO

Ceremonial cloth known as tais (traditional handcraft) has been woven in Timor-Leste for generations. Weaving traditions are considered key social functions for strengthening familial bonds. Textiles handcrafts are an invaluable expression of traditional knowledge and East Timorese culture. The designs and techniques to produce textiles have been handed down matrilineal lines recording a woven narration of the culture, lore, paradigms, and stories of Timor-Leste’s history.\n\nTraditional textile cloths are traditionally given by one Timorese woman to another as a mark of respect or symbol of repentance. From Timorese ancestors’ time, a woman learns how to make tais so that when she gets married, she can make tais for ceremonies or to sell in the barter market. Meanwhile tais led important role for Timorese children, and the local knowledge has been transmitted across generations. In Timor-Leste, transmitting weaving knowledge from mother to daughter is interwoven within a cultural system of collaboration and respect, where women, men, and young people work together to share cultural practices in a way that benefits the entire community.\n\nTais place a significant value on the process of feto-sa and umane in Timor-Leste’s cultural context (relationships between two families having marriage, and they establish a bond of obligation between the marrying families). Tais were also used on occasions such as funerals and kore-metan ceremonies (funeral anniversaries usually held one year after death).\n\nBoth dyeing and weaving are intimate social processes, usually done by a group of women. Women who are isolated in villages both socially and economically usually work together as team to work on obtaining a common goal. This reflects a broader social structure in Timor-Leste, where people once built their societies on a system of connectedness and community, a set of values and beliefs surrounding kinship, ceremony, spirituality, and weaving. The weaving, wearing, and use of the textiles are essential to the Timorese sense of being and was a way of asserting their differences in the past.\n\nWaving Techniques\nThe designs and color used to make a tais vary. For instance, in eastern part of Timor-Leste tais is mainly woven from cotton using a combination of plain weave and ikat techniques. Ikat is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the yarn prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric. In ikat the resist is formed by binding individual yarn threads or bundles of yarn with a tight wrapping applied in the desired pattern (ikat means “to bind” in the Indonesian language). Long, narrow panels of cloth often take months or years to complete. Concern with the dyeing process, usually the giant pestle is used to pound leaves and bark for a new batch of natural dyes.\n\nIn the western part of the country, weavers have used a tapestry weaving technique called mnaisa to weave small sections of belts for the past four years, which is the overall process of using natural dyes.\nIn tradition, the colors chosen for any one cloth depend on the occasion and where it will be worn. In the villages, weavers use endemic plants to color hand-spun cotton; however, the lack of raw material for dyeing and increasing availability of polyester fibers and synthetic dyes are changing the way tais is made.\n\nThe practice of the weaving traditions have declined dramatically due to globalization and post-conflict isolated conditions in Timor-Leste. The lack of participation of young peoples on the weaving process and the lack of the society awareness and government support to enact ICH as a priority national action plan has created challenges on pursuing safeguarding implementation.\n\nPhoto 1 : The Kingcraft, Tais weaving in Timor-Leste Ⓒ i0.wp.com/thekindcraft.com\nPhoto 2 : Baucau weaver, East part of Timor-Leste Ⓒ Abraão Ribeiro Mendonça