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Weaving The Dream 3

The T'boli tribe of South Cotabato in the Philippines lives in poverty but continues weaving their dreams of success while preserving their culture. One of their unique cultural artforms is t'nalak weaving, which involves an intricate tie-dye process to create sacred abaca fiber cloths. Traditionally, t'nalak cloths were used in rituals and exchanges, but are now sold commercially as the tribe's primary source of income. The intricate weaving process is believed to involve designs received from spirits in dreams, earning the region its name as the Land of the Dreamweavers. While some weavers now use conscious designs, the artform remains an important part of T'b

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76 views1 page

Weaving The Dream 3

The T'boli tribe of South Cotabato in the Philippines lives in poverty but continues weaving their dreams of success while preserving their culture. One of their unique cultural artforms is t'nalak weaving, which involves an intricate tie-dye process to create sacred abaca fiber cloths. Traditionally, t'nalak cloths were used in rituals and exchanges, but are now sold commercially as the tribe's primary source of income. The intricate weaving process is believed to involve designs received from spirits in dreams, earning the region its name as the Land of the Dreamweavers. While some weavers now use conscious designs, the artform remains an important part of T'b

Uploaded by

Wa La
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Weaving the Dream

Philippines has numerous ethnic and tribal groups that are considerably poor economically and are dreaming of
achieving sustainable development. One of which is the T’boli tribe of South Cotabato. This tribe might be in poverty, but
let us ponder on how its people continue weaving their dreams of success while keeping their culture alive.

One unique artform of the T’boli tribe is its weaving art widely known as the t’nalak. T’nalak is considered a
sacred cloth woven from abaca fibers. Done through an intricate tie-dye process, this requires years of training to be done.
The usual process of weaving t’nalak includes stripping of abaca fibers from abaca tree, cleaning, drying, separation and
selection of strands based on thickness, tying and rolling into balls, dying, and weaving which usually takes a month or
more. The traditional colors of t’nalak cloth includes white (for patterns), red (for relief elements), and black or deep
brown (for background). Among the aforementioned processes, only the T’boli women are eligible for actual weaving,
other process might be done by men.

Traditionally, the main purpose of t’nalak clothes was for ritual purposes as the tribe offer them to spirits. It was
also conventional for T’boli families to exchange these weavings for foods and other supplies in T’bolis’ barter economy.
Now, they are practically sold commercially to tourists as many T’boli communities in South Cotabato rely on this as
primary source of income.

T’nalak clothes are also accustomed with an oral literature. It is said that the traditional weavers, called as
dreamweavers, have their designs gotten from their dreams as gift from Fu Dalu, the spirit of abaca. It is also the reason
why South Cotabato is known to be the Land of the Dreamweavers. Patterns of t’nalak, until today, are woven relying
only to mental image, no any printed designs. However, nowadays, although there are still T’boli women who solely rely
on their dreams for weaving designs, there are those who simply weave with designs they came up consciously.

This artform, like others, comes with numerous beliefs. T’nalak cloth is believed to be infused with spiritual
meanings whereas one is ought not to step over a weaving on progress or cut the cloth unless done according to tradition.
Doing such things are attributed to sudden illnesses or even death. Moreover, before a t’nalak cloth be sold, a brass ring
shall be attached first to please the spirits. It is also important for the weavers to practice abstinence and shall not engage
to intimate marital activities during the period of weaving to preserve the purity of the cloth. T’nalak cloth is also essential
to several customs and traditions of the T’boli tribe. In marriages, it is used for properties exchange between the families
of the couple. Even in birth-giving, it is used as a cover for safe delivery.

Aside from t’nalak cloth, the T’boli tribe is artfully rich also because of its mastery in embroidery, brass casting,
jacket weaving, making bead jewelry, and wood carving together with distinct form of dancing, singing, and instrument
playing.

Let us learn from the T’bolis. Considering their admirable hardships on the art that they are doing, they taught us
that quality comes with so much effort, lots of it. Yes, it cannot escape our attention that the T’boli tribe of South
Cotabato is in a poor state economically speaking. However, with its rich culture, especially with its unique art, a
progressive yet sustainable state is yet to be achieved. With our support, their dream for success while keeping their
culture alive is ready to be woven.

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