I am sure that most of you out there would be aware that the
Iban community is known for their skill in weaving pua kumbu. However, do you
know that they too are exceptionally skilled in weaving mats and baskets? In
the words of Florina H. Capistrano Baker (1998), Basketry means “containing
life”, be it with non-basket, non-container articles such as hats or mats.
In the olden days
weaving mats or baskets is one of the many skills that an Iban maiden would
possess. A skilful weaver would have tattoos etched on their forearms just
below the elbows as a symbol of a high ranking weaver just like of those who
are skilful in producing pua kumbu. Usually, these expert weavers were mainly farmers.
Plaited articles back then were mainly produced for local
needs i.e. for daily use like ‘bubu’ or fish traps, ‘selabit’ a carry all
basket used by farmers, prestige or ritual purposes such as ‘garong’ used in
Gawai Antu ceremony and some even being
traded or bartered away. Other than having different kinds of materials used and functionality
weaving also has their own particular motifs. The more intricate the motif the
more skilful you are. Like pua kumbu not everybody is able to weave any kinds
of motif as it is taboo to some weavers.
Raw materials can come in different sources, such as rattan,
bamboo, pandanus, reeds (bemban) just to name a few. However, nowadays, there is
a trend where the Iban weavers use nylon straps (tali ladat) to weave due to
the scarcity of such natural raw materials.
Before I move on with my next article on weaving, please
follow this link where my mother in law was featured in Borneo Post Online on
weaving using tali ladat. *Note: The article is written in Iban by Christopher
Bisop dated 5 January 2014.Tali ladat nyilih senggang enggau bemban
