Textile Art of the Minorities

Textile Art – is the process of creating something using fibers gained from sources like plants, animals,
insects or synthetic materials
- Examples of such textiles include tapestries, rugs, quilts, and of course clothing
- People also used textiles to make objects that signaled status or commemorated important
events

The T’nalak Process - is a traditional cloth woven by the T’boli women of Lake Sebu and to them this
unique fabric represents birth, life, union in marriage and death
- It is often used as blankets and clothing and in rare occasions, it is used in the royal wedding
ceremonies
- Is sacred and represents the T’boli uniqueness and identity as indigenous group of people

Process in weaving the T’nalak

Step 1 – Kedungon or Abaca plant – harvesting of the abaca and the stripping of the fibers
 Making T’nalak begins by gathering the raw material used in weaving found in
the stems of the abaca plant or the kedungon
 This plant is from the same family as the banana tree
 Before harvesting begins, he sets up a prayer table and says a prayer to Fu Dalu,
with a sharp knife, he slashes the tree diagonally at a few inches from the
ground
 In order to produce a 14-meter long t’nalak, 6 abaca plants must be harvested,
plants need to be 2 to 3 years old and the diameter of their trunks at about 14-
18 inches
 The trunk is then stripped off its layer and the first few pieces are laid on a
triangular offering table for Fu Dalu
 The succeeding strips are then inserted between a block of wood held securely
to a horizontal beam with a large knife pressing down on it. The abaca harvester
would then pull the stalk through the two, separating the pulp from the abaca
fiber
 After stripping, the fibers would have to be combed immediately so as to
remove the sap that causes the darkening of the strands
 It is hung from a house beam and combed with the fingers where the weaver
selects and separates the fibers according to their thickness
 The fibers are spread on a beam and left to dry inside the house
Step 2 – Tembong or connecting – segregating the fibers and connecting them from end to end
 After air-dying the newly harvested fibers for at least 24 hours or until they are
adequately supple, the fibers are grouped into wrist-size bundles
 To soften the fibers, the women take the abaca strands and hand-rub or squeeze them,
using a motion like washing clothes, to make them pliant
 Fine fibers are reserved for the warp or the lengthwise threads, and the thicker fibers
are used for the weft or the crosswise threads
 Once dried, the women individually connect the fibers from the end to end by tying tiny
knots
  The ends are cut with a suk t’bong (small weaver’s blade) in order to make the
connections invisible
 It can take a weaver up to 2 weeks to be able to complete the standard length needed
for the T’nalak
Step 3 – Semdang or setting – preparing or setting the fibers on the loom for knotting
 This special loom is composed of a comb-like wooden frame with teeth pointing
upwards to preserve the fibers length and silkness
 After the fibers are smoothened out, they are placed evenly and closely spread on the
gono smoi and held in place by a teladay or wooden bar that is laid across and directly
over the fiber
Step 4 – Mebed or designing – knotting the fibers prior to resist-dyeing
 This delicate task of knotting the warp for the resist-dye method determines the design
of the t’nalak
 Can take up to 4 to 5 weeks as knot after knot is tied into place
Step 5 – Temogo or dying and Hemto or untying of knots – gathering and preparing the natural dyes,
dyeing the warp and untying knots
 T’nalak is defined by using the 3 traditional colors: black, red and white
 T’boli women make use of natural dyes found in vegetation around their area
 This process of resist-dye is commonly known as the ikat method that is shared with the
neighboring countries of Indonesia and Thailand
 Hitem or the black dye is derived from leaves of the K’nalum tree. Once rice sack full
worth of leaves is gathered, pounded, placed into a large pot of water and boiled. After
2 to 4 hours, the bed or tied fibers are placed inside. Cooking of the fibers takes an
average of 3 weeks with the fire being refuelled 3 times each day and the leaves and
berries replaced every 2 days. Once fully absorbed with the deepest black, the tied
fibers are removed and rinsed in running water through the stream until the water runs
clear. It is then air dried for about 2 days before the knots that have been tied, reserved
for the red portion, are carefully removed with the suk t’bong or small knife.
 Hulo or the red dye is taken from the roots and bark shavings of the small-leafed loko
tree. Around 1 kilogram of the loko’s bark and roots are boiled in water for another half
hour. The bed is then added and allowed to boil from 5 days to 1 week. Once done, the
bed is removed and rinsed thoroughly until water runs clear and then air dried.
 On the next day, the knots that were used to protect the bukay, the natural creamy
white or ecru color, of the abaca strands are removed to reveal its natural color.
Step 6 – Mewel or weaving – setting the dyed warp on the backstrap of the loom
 T’boli backstrap loom or the legogong, is a form of horizontal two-bar or two-beamed
loom where one bear is attached to the ceiling bamboo beam of the T’boli longhouse
and the second beam, or the backstrap, is attached to the weaver’s lower back
 The longhouse is a structure specifically built for the production of the t’nalak
 When the t’nalak weaver works, she weaves in a rhythm
Step 7 – Semaki or ironing – burnishing the surface of the t’nalak
 The final phase of producing the t’nalak involves burnishing the surface with a saki or
cowrie shell, while the fabric is still moist. The shell is attached to ne end of the
longhouse to help apply additional pressure to the procedure
 Once the burnishing is done, the t’nalak is washed in cold water at a steady flowing
stream after which it is hung and dried
T’nalak and T’boli Art – famous for their dream-inspired and spirit infused T’nalak weavings, but also for
their embroidery, brass casting and other crafts
o T’nalak weaving is an art form perfected over decades of practice by T’boli women,
and only a handful of master weavers can be considered true ‘dream weavers’, the
works of whom are highly valued
o T’nalak, a deep brown abaca-based cloth tie-dyed with intricate designs, is produced
by women of Mindanao’s T’boli Tribe
o T’nalak production is a labor intensive process requiring a knowledge of a range of
skills learned from a young age by the women on the tribe
o T’nalak designs have been passed down through generations and come to the best
weavers in dreams, brought to them by the ancestors
o T’nalak weavings are one of the traditional properties exchanged at the time of
marriage and are used as a covering during birth to ensure a safe delivery
o One should not step over a weaving in progress, and doing so is to risk illness
o Cutting the cloth will cause sickness or death, unless done according to traditions
o If a weaving is sold, a brass ring is often attached to appease the spirits
o T’boli women practice abstinence in order to maintain the purity of their art

1. Dagmay
o The Mandaya is one of the Mindanao’s surviving minority tribes of the Philippines
o For many generations the Mandaya have woven cloth from fibers of native abaca
tree, a variety of the banana family which is abundant in the region
o The dyes are made from mud, root and other organic materials
o This cloth is known locally as dagmay
o It is distinguished from other tribal weaving by the intricate figures and patterns
depicting the folklores and religion of the tribe
o The Mandaya have carried the human and crocodile motifs to their highest
expression
o The crocodile is held sacred as shown by the frequency with which it appears in
their decorative design
o There are no pattern copy
o Each design is an expression of the weaver
 o The unique culture of dagmay weaving by the Mandayan tribe earned them the title
“Lumad that Weave Dagmay”
o Among the Mandayas, the dagmay has been worn as women’s skirts but it is also
used as blankets and to wrap the dead
o Each design, however, carries with it a certain story
o The designs that included the binaybayan, the otaw (man), the patella, buaya
(crocodile), bilaan and the utaw and the kallungnan (which refers to the poles
where the dagmay cloth is rolled, represented by stripes in the design)

2. Pis-syabit
o Is the traditional cloth tapestry made from the cotton silk worn as a head covering
by the Tausug of Sulu
o This is also where the late master weaver Darhata Sawabi, a GAMABA Awardee of
2005 came from
o Intricately woven at the houses of the Tausugs
o Pis-syabit weaving is a difficult art
o Preparing the warp alone already takes 3 days
o It is a very mechanical task, consisting of stringing black and red threads across a
banana and bamboo frame to form the base of the tapestry
o Pis-syabit is characterized with intricate geometric patterns of colors segmented
into the smallest squares, triangles and diamonds
o It is a multi-purpose head wear that may be worn on the shoulder, tied along the
hilt of the kris or wrap around the head used by Tausug men, usually a sign of rank
o Pis-syabit is also used to decorate households such as frames, curtains and
giveaways
3. Seputangan
o The Yakans settled originally in Basilan Island and in the seventies, due to a political
unrest which led the armed conflicts between the militant Muslims and government
soldiers, some of them settled in the region of Zamboanga City
o Traditionally, they have used plants like pineapple and abaca converted into fibers
as basic material for weaving
o Using herbal extracts from leaves, roots and barks, the Yakan dyed the fibers and
produced colourful combinations and intricate designs
o The seputangan is the most intricate design worn by the women around their waist
or as a head cloth
o The warp and primary weft are of cotton and the supplementary weft is silk
o The supplementary weft work is discontinuous, a type of work in which the various
colors are inserted in the proper place by hand
o Yakan people are recognized for their remarkable Technicolor geometric weaves
and the distinctive face decorations used in their traditional ceremonies

4. Inaul
o The inaul is still very much an everyday item in Maguindanao province
o Inaul is a time-honored weaving tradition of the Maguindanao people usually made
into malong or wraparound skirts commonly and regularly used by both sexes
o The Maranaos of Marawi City also has this weaving tradition
o Inaul has more than 20 designs with riyal the heirloom piece being the rarest since it
is no longer being produced and hard to find
o Other notable designs include umpak which is embroided-laden and hard to do,
binaludto or rainbow, panigabi or taro, and the rare tie-dye binaludan called ikat by
the T’boli and the people of Cordillera
o The three types of threads being used in weaving are tanor which is cottony, the
silky rayon and katiyado which is the shiny type. Rayon and tanor can be mixed
together to form a malong called “mestizo”.
o The colors are also reflective of the Maguindanao culture. Red means bravery,
green for peace, black for dignity, white for sadness and green means peace
o Today, inaul is no longer confined to malong and is now being made into modern
clothing such as gowns, polo, and trousers