Beaded Baby Backpack Carrier from the Dyak Tribe Kalimantan
13.5" High x 17" Wide x 5" Deep
The Dyak tribes of Indonesia strive to retain much of their own culture. Children are the key to maintaining a culture and this beautiful baby carrier wraps the child in their group's embrace from birth.
This Dyak beaded baby carrier has spirit faces, cowrie shells forming flowers signifying wealth, and teeth charms. The beads themselves are believed to form a hard surface that protects against evil. High-status babies may have carriers with figurative motifs representing human figures, tigers, or asoq masks such as the protective dog-dragon goddess. Commoners will use plainer, geometric designs. The baby carrier guards both the body and the soul of the new child, and the charms warn the mother of approaching danger.
The Dyak people of inner Kalimantan, Borneo, were head hunters, who until recently kept settlers out of their dense jungle territories. The tribes still hunt and gather in more remote areas of the bush and practice slash-and -burn agriculture along the inland rivers like the Mahakam.
This is a baby backpack with a wood frame, and woven back straps
A rare find for ethnic decor.
Handmade in Kalimantan Indonesia
