One of the reasons why Cultural tourism is getting production and those special fabrics that uses the
es the best
stronger in the Philippines is that there is a strong natural dye and abaca fibers.
determination from the indigenous groups as well as the
government to conserve the Filipino people’s identity The materials are still abundant in the forests of Lake
since each indigenous group in the country carry its own Sebu. The process of preparing the abaca and its dye
history, practices, and beliefs in their way of life, arts, and also provides livelihood to other households in the area.
crafts. The Mayor of Lake Sebu does not consider this a major
problem since raw materials are abundant except for
Despite tourism having two opposing poles – the brass (Lake Sebu is also known for brass casting).
conservation and pollution of the land, people, and
culture, the government invests in this endeavor and at In her 90’s, she does not weave T’nalak anymore.
the same time recognizes people, national artists and Instead, she designs the patterns for the T’nalak cloth and
national living treasures, as champions of culture and the let her dreamweavers do the weaving.
arts.
T’nalak weavers are considered “dreamweavers”
Lang Dulay, a T’nalak dreamweaver from Lake since their design are inspired by the patterns they saw
Sebu, South Cotabato which through the years, she has from otheir dreams.
dreamed that someday she could pass on her talent and
skills to the young in her community. T’nalak weaving is a tedious process that begins
with stripping the stem of the abaca plant to get the fibers,
Lang Dulay “The Dreamweaver” coaxing even finer fibers for the textile, then drying the
threads and tying each strand by hand. Afterward, there
A Filipino traditional weaver who was a recipient is the delicate task of setting the strands on the “bed-
of the National Living Treasures Award and credited with tying” frame made of bamboo to decide which strands
preserving her people's tradition of weaving T'nalak, a should be tied to resist the dye. The bud or tying of the
dyed fabric made from refined abaca fibre. abaca fibers defines the design.
Background: After the weaving is done, the textile is then
polished with a seashell to bring out the cloth’s natural
Lang Dulay was born on August 03, 1928, and luster.
died on April 30, 2015. She was a “T’boli princess” from
the Lake Sebu region in South Cotabato and known as Each roll of T’nalak could be 5-8 meters long, and
“the Dreamweaver”. it can take as many as three months to complete. Each
roll sells out up to 700 pesos per meter, but the fabric that
Lang Dulay started weaving when she was 12 bears Lang Dulay’s name can pitch as much as 1,200
years old. Her mother, Luan Senig taught her about pesos per meter.
weaving. She developed and mastered the famous
beautiful T’nalak cloth of South Cotabato’s T’boli tribe.
She was the oldest dreamweaver in the land with more T’nalak cloth cannot be cut in half, as it is
than 100 designs with her name considered sacred in their culture. Also, when a
Dreamweaver starts to weave, distraction is not allowed
Now, she had passed on all the techniques she to finish weaving. Husbands are considered distractions,
had learned to her granddaughters and students. Her in conclusion, intimacy is out of the question for months.
humble workshop was at the “Manlilikha ng Bayan That is one of the reasons why the tribe practices
Center” in Sitio Tukolefa, Lamdalag, Lake Sebu, South polygamy.
Cotabato.
The place was a traditional T’boli house with big windows
and no partitions inside. The whole second floor was T’nalak fabric and even wore outfits made of T’nalak are
arranged as a workshop, receiving area for tourists, and the least comfortable fabric you can use for clothes. (This
display area for their products. The center produces two are fake). But the real T’nalak is is super soft and shiny.
different T’nalak fabrics – those for commercial mass
In 1998, Lang Dulay received the National Living “ BED BWENGKEL”
Treasure (Manlilikha ng Bayan) award from the National
Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for her It Bwengkel means “Crocodile”, and this T’nalak
presence in the continuation of their culture and her fine pattern recalls the story of how one of the smaller
craftsmanship of the delicate abaca fibers. lakes came to be
In her twilight years, Lang Dulay needed to pass
on the tradition, and with the SLT project, Barbara Ofong
was classified as the youngest Dreamweaver in Lake
Sebu followed next to Lang Dulay herself. Relatively
young in weaving with a few designs under her name, the
community holds on to the next-in-line weavers like
Barbara and Lang Dulay’s students and family members
to continue the legacy of weaving.
Art Interpretation according to Lang Dulay: “LE ALAH”
“The Art of Story Telling,” art is described as any STREAM OR FLOW OF THE ALAH RIVER
creative circumstance, aesthetically or communication
with emotional reasons, such as the stories of the T'boli
people who live near Lake Sebu in South Cotabato.
Artworks:
As stated before Lang Dulay prefers traditional
design patterns but she knows hundreds of these patterns
and some examples of this are bulinglangit (clouds), the
bankiring (hair bangs), and the kabangi (butterfly), each
one special for the stories it tells. Using red and black
dyes, she spins her stories with grace. Her textiles reflect “GEMEWET”
the wisdom and the visions of her people.
INTERCONNECTEDNESS OR CONNECTIONS
Much like the fading photos of Lang Dulay in her
workshop, the craft is slowly fading but with great effort
not by the government alone but the T’boli themselves,
this tradition will be passed on to the next generation so
that our children’s children will be able to see the beauty
of weaving T’nalak.
“ M’ BAGA DUN”
It captures the rhythm and calm of a mother singing
lullaby to her child
