Tags: Clothing
By Anna Valmero
DAVAO CITY, DAVAO DEL - Dressed in traditional T’boli attire with elaborate decorations from head to foot, Elena Marcelo meticulously arranges one by one the thousands of abaca threads on the tinalak cloth that she is weaving by hand.
The design was forged in dreams and given life by at least two generations of her family already, a design taught to her by her lola when she was just 15, she tells me during an interview at the T’boli Weaving Centre.
“Importante na pamana ang tinalak sa akin ng lola, mahalaga ito sa mga babaeng T‘boli (Weaving the tinalak is a gem of knowledge handed down o me by my grandmother, this is an important heirloom or maternal bond learned by our women),” she says in her native tongue, which was translated to Tagalog by Rachelle Iba, one of the Davaoeña staff at the center.
The tinalak is an important property among the T’bolis that are exchanged during marriage and used as covering for safe delivery during childbirth.
Now at 45, Elena still weaves the tinalak made of the strong abaca fibers from Lake Sebu as well as headdresses and beaded necklaces in an effort to preserve the cultural tradition and to earn from it by selling tinalak cloth, which the center uses for making bags, purses and pillows, among others.
A one yard wide and ten-meter long tinalak cloth is sold by T’boli at P2,500 to the center, which in turn sells the tinalak for P500 per meter.
When asked why she did not use her own design to weave the tinalak, Elena says that the design was what she learned for the past 30 years because she has not yet finished dreaming her own personal tinalak design.
“Matagal na itong disenyo na ginawa ng aming pamilya. Hindi naman kasi lahat nakakapanaginip ng disenyo (ng tinalak). Ako minsan nananaginip pero hirap pa na gawin yung design paggising ko kasi parang kulang (Our family has been weaving This design for generations. Not all women can dream of the designs. Sometimes, I dream of them but when I wake up I find I hard to execute because the design is not yet complete).”
She adds that only two in ten T’boli women can dream of tinalak designs. Up until now, women from her tribe dream of new designs as given by ancestors, dead relatives or on their own.
Because the tinalak is sacred to them, a brass ring is attached when the tinalak is sold to appease the spirits that revealed he design to the weaver.
“Kailangan rin na kumita kami. Sa unang panahon, bawal ibenta pero simula noong 1970 naging business na paunti-unti (We also need to earn a living. During the old times, it was prohibited to sell tinalak but during the 1970s some started to weave it for business),” says Elena. She added that selling the tinalak helps them to earn a living and to promote their culture.
“Bago bilhin ang tinalak, sinasabihan namin na ang sinumang mag may-ari na dapat ingatan ito kasi kung hindi at sinunog nila, magagalit ang mga ispiritu at magkakasakit sila (Before we sell the tinalak, we remind the buyer to take care of it and not burn it because they will offend the spirits and cause them to have illness),” she adds.
I reminded my friend of this whom I’ve given a tinalak bag as a birthday gift.
Elena continues to weave in her hand loom the tinalak, about a meter long of which is growing at the base. On her side is a black-dyed abaca (also called banana hemp) that goes to the loom to form intricate patterns. I could not but admire her for the dexterity, artistry, hard work and patience to weave their dreams.
It takes about four months to weave a ten-meter long tinalak, even longer if the patterns are intricate, she adds.
It is the enduring patience that Elena considers as the most important lesson she has learned in weaving tinalak, a seemingly lost quality by city dwellers who have been used to the convenience of everything fast. She says by owning a piece of tinalak handwoven by T ‘boli women like her, she hopes others will relearn he value of patience in living.
One day Elena hopes to weave her own tinalak design to provide a connection with the world of the dreaming, her inner self, and her ancestors. Weaving the tinalak in a way makes their culture live forever because the tinalak remains their totem that once in their lifetime, they made a visible map to connect these worlds.
In her quiet little way, she showed me and made me realized that the tinalak is their culture and way of life—signified by the patience to weave life into a tapestry of dreams using the fabled colors of the cosmos, red, black and white.
The T’boli Weaving Center is located near the port for boats bound for Pearl Farm Beach Resort. You can take a taxi to Insular Village I and then, walk for five minutes to take a tricycle parked along the highway going to T’boli Weaving Centre. You can contact Elena Marcelo at (0918)4465914.
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