Beyond Lake Sebu: Blaans’ rich indigenous dreamwoven tabih and its master weaver, rituals, dances, homestays, at Blaan Wellness and Tribal Village National Living Treasure Fu Yabing Masalon-Dulo at work on a tabih design in her home.
INDIGENOUS CULTURE/NARRATIVE
Narrative by Claire Madarang
I have always associated South Cotabato, a province in the Philippines with the serene Lake Sebu and the dreamweaving T’boli indigenous people and their masterpiece, the t’nalak. South Cotabato is in fact known as the “Land of the Dreamweavers.”
However, there are other dreamweavers in South Cotabato and other parts of Mindanao, the Blaan indigenous people. I was able to meet Blaans for the first time in Sarangani, and I was happy to find out there was also a community in South Cotabato. The Blaans’ indigenous cloth woven from dreams is the tabih, also made from abaca fibers like the t’nalak.