INTRODUCTION

Background of the Culture

South of the Philippine archipelago lies the province of South Cotabato. And it is here

that the ethnic group of the T’boli people reside. They have a variety of traditional products. The

skills inherent in production of these T'boli products are highly valued, and as such many women

learn each from their mothers and grandmothers. The T'boli are excellent embroiderers and brass

casters, with their products prized well beyond the borders of their community. (Escalona, 2017)

In its municipality of Lake Sebu, a type of cloth is hand-woven out of Abaca (a plant native

to the Philippines) fibers. Known as T’nalak. Their tribe are famous for their dream-inspired and

spirit infused T'nalak weavings. T’nalak is a fabric made from abaca that is hailed as the

province’s ultimate cultural emblem. It is woven by T’boli women, with the pattern coming to

them in their dreams. This earned them the moniker of “dreamweavers”.

The T’nalak is an intricately woven tapestry of intense and striking colors. The hues of

intertwined abaca fabric depict the vivid spirit of the people whom this unique and artistic

weaving has invariably come to represent. This symbol of woven dreams is a fundamental part of

South Cotabato’s culture, a culture steeped in mystique. (Guia, 2012)

T'nalak weaving is an artform 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. In 1998, Lang Dulay of Lake Sebu whose work has been seen as some of the best

among her people, earned the title of Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan or the National Living

Treasure Award as a T’nalak weaver.

Traditions, Beliefs, Customs Presentation

Weaving is one of Philippine visual arts practiced by our natives, which was proven to

havestarted even before the Philippine Colonial Period. An exotic fabric made through a

centuries-old process of tie-dye weaving by the T’boli women of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato has

captured the fancy of Filipinos as well as people around the world. Called T’nalak, it is made

into bags of different sizes, attach case, wall decors, blankets, jackets, purse, clothing, cigarette

case, belts, portfolio and others. (Mercurio, 2013)

T'nalak has a great significance for the T’boli. According to T'boli tradition, the T'nalak

designs have been passed down through generations and come to the best weavers in dreams,

brought to them by their ancestors. The women who have preserved this spiritual tradition are

referred to as “Dream Weavers”. The Dream Weavers don’t follow self-invented patterns.

Instead, they believe that the designs of the t’nalak they create are brought to them in their

dreams by Fu Dalu, the spirit of the Abaca. They then bring these patterns to life by weaving

solely from mental images and memory.

The making of the t’nalak is a tedious process composed of rituals especially done during

the night when the air is cool and the fibre is at the right elasticity. The weaving of the cloth

takes almost two and a half months for a piece about 20 feet long. During the weaving process,

silence and an atmosphere of solemnity is observed by the members of the household. A single

mistake in the weaving pattern due to distraction would mean repeating the whole process from

the very beginning. (Mercurio, 2013)

T’nalak has a distinctive tri-colour scheme: White for the pattern, red for relief elements
and black (or deep brown) for the background. The gathering and processing of materials alone

are highly complicated. Fibres selected from fruit-bearing abaca plants usually about 18 months

old and prepared in a process known as kedungon. Two metal blades are used to quickly remove

the pulp and reveal the filaments, which are worked by hand into fine threads. During tembong,

an artisan will connect individual threads end to end.

Temogo, or dyeing, is done in the ikat-style, using beeswax and natural pigments. The

black dye is extracted from the leaves of the kenalum tree. The red dye is taken from the roots of

the loco tree. In the dyeing process, two earthen pots, one on top of the other, mouth to mouth,

are then used to boil the fibres repeatedly, for three weeks, for the black colour and only two

days for the red. Steam pushes the dye upwards to the bundle of tied threads in the upper pot.

After the dark colour has been achieved, some waxed strings are removed.

The newly-exposed areas are then dyed red. A variety of colours (black, dark, cream and

the natural flaxen colour of the fibre) can be produced by removing the remaining waxed ties.

When the dyeing process is completed, the fibres are then removed and rinsed along river banks

or streams.

After the rinsing process, the cloth is again air dried for a week. It then undergoes the

lemubag (wood pounding) where the fibres are rendered pliant and flexible. And the final stage

in the process, semaki, involves burnishing the fabric with a cowrie shell that is heated by

friction. Nut oil is used to condition the fabric and add sheen.

The t’nalak is used in every important life event of the T’boli, from birth, to marriage, to

death. T'nalak weavings are one of the traditional properties exchanged at the time of marriage

and is used as a covering during birth to ensure a safe delivery. The T'Boli believe that the
T'nalak is infused with spiritual meaning, and as such there are a variety of traditions

surrounding its production and use. They also believe that one should not step over a weaving in

progress; doing so is to risk illness. Weavers are also not allowed to sleep with their husbands

until the cloth is finished to maintain the t’nalak’s spiritual purity. Cutting the cloth will cause

sickness or death, unless done according to traditions. If a weaving is sold, a brass ring is often

attached to appease the spirits.

 METHODOLOGY

The T’nalak is a rich and a wonderful tradition that is being preserved by the T’boli

people. In line with this study to further enrich the knowledge about the culture of the T’boli

people, the researchers had chosen to conduct this study with the Ethnographic type of research.

The Ethnographic Research Design or simply known as Ethnography is another type

of Qualitative Research method and its main purpose is for the researchers to observe, interact,

or in some cases, participate along with their respondents/participants in their real-life

environment. Ethnography was made popular in anthropology, which is the study of human

behaviors and societies in both the past and the present, and is exactly in line with the main topic

of this study, which is about the T’boli people and their rich T’nalak culture. It can help the

researchers to investigate and study about the complex and critical challenges that they will be

facing throughout the duration of the study, and for them to immerse themselves and fully

understand the culture that they will be studying about.

This was used in the study due to the fact that the research study will be focusing on a

group of people with a rich history and culture and the researchers want to know more about that

culture and be familiar about their traditions ad practices, just like what the anthropologists do.

Anthropologists use ethnography in order to attempt to fully understand about an entire group of

people. It is useful if one wants to know and understand the way in which a certain culture

operates. The researchers of the study has the certain purpose to achieve and it is to understand

the culture and explain it properly, and they can achieve this goal by immersing themselves to

the culture and by experiencing it first-handedly.

The research instrument used for this research study is the Data Analysis. Data Analysis
is the process of systematically applying statistical and/or logical techniques to describe and

illustrate, condense and recap, and evaluate data. According to Shamoo and Resnik (2003)

various analytic procedures “provide a way of drawing inductive inferences from data and

distinguishing the signal (the phenomenon of interest) from the noise (statistical fluctuations)

present in the data”.