Weaving threads into art of heritage

Ketholeno Neihu
Dimapur | January 10  

Weaving is a tradition common to Naga society, and women share an exclusive monopoly in this art, with techniques being passed on through generations. However, this art is starting to wither away in many places.  

Despite attracting a lot of admiration and a huge market, the art of weaving and spinning has become the art of the few. 

In Kigwema, a southern village of the Angami tribe, young females at work provide the picture of weaving as it was decades ago. Most of the young women including educated unemployed(s) master the art, skill and technique of weaving shawls and wrappers known in Angami dialect as Lohe, Phemhou etc. These garments are worn during all occasions and church events and come in variant colours and apparels; and sometimes they makes up the whole of an outfit.  

Although not regular weavers, the women here, on days off from the working in the fields, sit on their looms for long hours weaving the horizontally stretched wool to and fro. The end product is made for the family members or is sold to local customers in the market. It is also a tradition and a form of prestige for every woman in the village to gift hand-spun woven shawls or wrappers during special occasions such as wedding to close friends and relatives.  

The process of weaving is primitive and done through a step by step process, which is slow and tedious. A complete woven shawl or wrapper consumes four to six days. The wool is first washed with a white substance which they generally call ‘sabudana’. The dried wool is then spun into balls, after which the thread wool is carefully pulled and arranged longitudinally with wood supports standing in a lateral position, which also frames the structure of the cloth.  

The weaver pulls in a belt attached to the end of the loom with the feet placed on a firm support. The horizontal threads are then interlocked with the use of pick-up sticks made from fine bamboo and wood. One such unique stick is the ‘dziike’ also called a beating stick which is straight on one side and has a convex rectilinear shape on the other.  

Two pieces are usually woven separately, cut and stitched together. In the borderline, a pattern of about two inch is embroidered with silk threads which are usually shiny and contrast the colour of the shawl or wrapper. This is done to add more detail and beauty.  

“I would excitingly weave small bags spun by my mother on holidays,” said Akhono, recollecting her yonder days of practicing weaving during childhood. “Weaving was taught by my mother and my other sisters and neighbors also do weaving for themselves. We all want to compete with our weaving skills and it has become a way of our life,” she added.  

The type of labour exerted in this art however has certain health implications. Eyesight is affected and backaches aren’t uncommon among the weavers. Dokheno, a graduate who was weaving a wrapper for an upcoming programme shared that it was her first time weaving a one ply (Thailand) wrapper. “The pattern at the border are very delicate, bending forward and constantly concentrating at the colored thread gives one a dizzy feeling,” she said.  

In Kigwema village, three wool shops are located in the highway along the village. While the shops supply the wool and other necessary items for weaving, it also takes the finished products at wholesale rates from the villagers. The proprietor of one, Kekhrie Wool House, the oldest operating wool shop in the village informed that more than 50 women purchase wool items from their shop and also sell their finished products to them.  

The shawls and wrappers; scarf and coats have prices ranging from Rs 2000 to 10000, depending on their design and quality of wool. The village also has many of the men engaged in carpentry. This in turn prevents the women from running out of weaving.  

The tradition of weaving remains strong here, with the people holding on to their culture and as it also provides them with an avenue for sustenance.   

The writer is currently an intern at The Morung Express.