The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

HANDICRAFTS 221
Spinning and Weaving and Dyeing of Cloth
The Kayans, Kenyahs, and most of the
Klemantans weave no cloth ; but the Kayans
claim, probably with truth, that they formerly wove
a coarse cloth. In recent years the I bans, Muruts,
and a few of the Klemantan tribes have been the
only weavers. It may be said, we think, without
fear of contradiction, that this is the only craft in
which the Ibans excel all the other peoples. Their
methods are similar to those of the Malays, and
have probably been learnt from them. The weaving
is done only by the women, though the men make
the machinery employed by them.
The fibre used by the Ibans is cotton, which is
obtained from shrubs planted and cultivated for
the purpose. The seed is extracted from the
mass of fibre by squeezing the mass between a
pair of rollers arranged like a rude mangle, while
the fibre is pulled away by hand (PI. 118). Next
the thread is spun from the mass of fibre by the aid
of a simple wheel, turned by the right hand while
the left hand twists the fibres (PI. 119). The
dyeing precedes the weaving if a pattern is to
be produced. The web is stretched on a wooden
frame about six feet long and twenty inches in
width, by winding a long thread round it from end
to end. The parts of the web corresponding to
the parts of the cloth that are to remain undyed
and of the natural pale brown colour of the
thread are tied round with dried strips of a
fibrous leaf [lemba), the upper and lower set of
threads being wrapped up together in the same
bundles (PI. 120). If only one colour is to be
applied, the web is then slipped off the frame. The
threads are held in their relative positions by the
wrappings, but are further secured by tying a string