South Cotabato sings ode to the ‘t’nalak’
THE COLOR and artistry of the “t’nalak” cloth took center stage when South Cotabato celebrated the 13th T’Nalak Festival to mark its 46th founding day.
The week-long festivity last July was highlighted by a grand street dance parade which showcased the province’s diverse tri-people cultural heritage repre- sented by the T’Bolis, the Christians, and the Muslims.
But it was the T’Boli culture which took the spotlight, as featured in the cultural community’s costumes, dances and brass jewelry.
The t’nalak is a deep brown abacabased cloth dyed with intricate designs, and is regarded as one of the country’s best known indigenous fabrics.
Adding value to the t’nalak mystique are the age-old beliefs that have made it a cultural gem. According to T’boli superstition, the fabric is sacred, as its weaving was taught to the cultural community’s ancestors in a dream by the goddess Fu Dalu. Hence, a finished cloth should never be cut or washed.
The tribal women weave without the aid of dawn patterns; they simply rely on a mental image for the designs. They have earned the moniker “Dream Weavers” because they believe that the textile patterns are revealed to them through dreams from their ancestors or through Fu Dalu.
Motifs are often based on natural surroundings, with the front and back designs being identical. The weaving process, which often takes weeks to complete, is labor-intensive and meticulous, requiring a certain degree of experience and expertise.
Based on tradition, 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.
T’nalak cloth is also a traditional gift exchanged during marriage and is used as covering during childbirth to ensure a safe delivery.
The fabric has reached a certain level of cultural significance that a T’boli weaver from Lake Sebu has been named a National Living Treasure (Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan) by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts for creating more than a thousand designs of the intricate fabric. Now in her 90s, Lang Dulay is a National Folk Artist for preserving the t’nalak and enriching a community art for the future generations.
From being a weave worn by activists and nongovernment organization workers, the t’nalak has come a long way and become a mainstream fabric and a strong fashion statement on the artistry of the T’Boli tribe and the spirituality behind it.