JTI GROUP

TRIBAL HERITAGE
WITH A SINGULAR MISSION OF
PRESERVING THE HANDWOVEN TEXTILES
OF ASSAM, TRIBAL HERITAGE PROVIDES
WEAVERS AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT
TO CONTINUE THEIR CRAFT.
“Assamese women weave fairy tales
in their looms”, said Mahatma Gandhi in
1921 when he first visited the state.
Weaving has been an intrinsic part of
Assam’s culture and heritage and a
cottage industry of the state as the
women are traditionally the weavers in
Northeast India, unlike the rest of the
country.
The silks and weaves of this state in
Northeast India are beautifully unique,
with intricate patterns of native animals,
human figurines, flowers and birds that
depict everyday rural scenes. Assam
also has the Geographical Indicator
status for Muga, the golden silk which is
endemic to Assam.
Tribal Heritage started with one
enterprising woman weaver, Anjali, who
understood the design intervention
that we wanted to provide to make her
hand-weaves more appealing for urban
women. She would go village to village to
engage rural women in their looms and
collect at the months’ end from them.
This provided a sustainable
livelihood generation model at the
doorsteps of the rural women weavers.
Today, Tribal Heritage has its own
weaving centre in Kaziranga National
Park with Anjali managing women as well
as men weavers in our own looms. It is
located right next to our wildlife lodge,
the Diphlu River Lodge. Our guests have
the opportunity to observe at close
quarters basic bamboo looms and the
heavier wooden looms that are used
for the tedious and intricate craft of
hand-weaving. This has led to a greater
appreciation of the handloom over the
machine-run loom and an acceptance of
the price differences involved that our
weavers get to benefit from.
Tribal Heritage provides an enabling
environment for an experiential textile
tourism model and a training ground
for learning design and weaving skills.
Our ethos remains to revive, sustain
and celebrate the weaving heritage of
Assam’s tribal communities.
Alongside Tribal Heritage, Jahnabi and
her partner, Jesmina Zeliang, also set
up Konyak, a fair trade platform for the
grassroots artisans of Northeast India.
With three boutiques in Assam, Konyak
takes pride in introducing the world
to the handicrafts and handlooms of
Northeast India.
JTI Group, under Tribal Heritage, runs
textile tours and workshops in Assam.
From the riverside town of Sualkuchi
to the island hamlet of Majuli, explore
weaving hubs, interact with talented
weavers and try your hand at the loom
as you learn more about Assam’s history
and future in handwoven textiles.
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