BIAK NUMFOR – Papuan traditional houses have a unique architectural design, beautiful and beautiful environment presents its own charm, Papua has a higher area with other regions in Indonesia, with its vast territory giving rise to a diversity of tribes with a variety of different customs and is still upheld today, in addition to customs that are still thick, the Papuan people still preserve various existing cultures, such as the Rumsram traditional house.
Rumsram is the traditional house of the Biak Numfor tribe who inhabit the North coast of Papua, the Rumsram house can also only be occupied by men and the traditional house of the Biak Numfor tribe whose majority are sailors. Women from the Biak Numfor tribe are prohibited from entering or approaching this house area and Rumsram comes from a combination of the words “rum” which means house, and “sram/snon/snun” which means footman.
The Rumsram house is used to organize teaching and educational activities for the men of the Biak Numfor tribe who are starting to grow up, this means that the men can be trained and get provisions for independent living as adults and the Rumsram house building is square with a roof that forms an inverted boat because in the lives of the majority of Biak Numfor tribesmen who work as sailors.
To make the various components of the house, bark is used for the floor, water bamboo is split and chopped for the wall components, while the roof is made of dried sago leaves, besides being made of chopped water bamboo, the walls of the Rumsram house are also made of sago fronds, the Rumsram house has a few windows positioned at the front and back of the house.
The height of the Rumsram house ranges from 6-8 m and is subdivided into two parts that are differentiated by the level of the floor, the first floor or the lower floor is open and has no walls, there is a building frame where the men are educated to be adept at sculpting, making their own shields and boats and are also taught about war techniques and the upper floor of the Rumsram house is used as a place to live and also a place to carry out various other daily activities.
The function of the Rumsram house is in the traditional ceremony of shaving children’s hair called Wor Kapanaknik which is intended for boys aged 6-8 years, at that age a child is considered capable of thinking and can start getting an education in seeking life experience, because it intends to educate a strong boy and can become a reliable head of the family later. Children who have participated in the Wor Kapanaknik ceremony will live in the Rumsram house to receive teaching and education.