T'nalak

Tnalak (also spelled tenalak), is a weaving tradition using resist-dyed threads of the Tboli people of South Cotabato, Philippines.

[1] T'nalak cloth is woven exclusively by women who have received the designs for the weave in their dreams, which they believe are a gift from Fu Dalu, the T'boli Goddess of abacá.

[1] The rest of the community, including the men, are able to participate in the production of T'nalak by carefully selecting, stripping, and sun-drying the abacá fibers to be used.

[1][2] Once the fibers have been prepared, they are dyed using the dye-resist technique called ikat, based on the pattern dreamt by the weaver; the woman gifted by Fu Dalu with the design then weaves the cloth using a backstrap loom.

The dyeing and weaving processes are approached with extra care because the T'boli believe that Fu Dalo comes to inhabit each individual yarn.

[1] The broader community, including the T'boli men, participate in the production of cloth during the abaca fiber selection and stripping process.

[1] T'nalak contains three colours: white symbolises purity, red represents blood and black signifies the soil.

[1] During the extensive weaving process, female weavers and their husbands are banned from having sex as a show of respect to Fu Dalu.

Making use of the various geometrical patterns and the trademark red, black and white colors, the T'bolis weave the natural and the supernatural in the abaca strands of the T'nalak.

[9] The Philippine province of South Cotabato, in which the Tboli have their ancestral domains, celebrates the T'nalak festival annually.