Tom’s note: I own several pua kumbu, (cloth woven by Iban weavers) and have always wondered how the Iban ladies managed to turn out such beautiful and wonderful items.
The Ladies
One is not born into Iban society with a position. Rather he or she must earn it during their lifetime. Pioneering, opening jungle for settlement, was one way men earned a position. Another was headhunting. No Iban youth would be considered a man unless he had taken a head and no woman would consider herself worthy of giving favours (read sex) unless he had taken at least one head.
For women, the foremost means of acquiring status is the weaving of pua kumbu. Formerly, these blanket size cloths were made of homespun cotton but today, the commercial thread is used. The pattern is created by the ikat process.
A young girl begins her journey when her mother or other female relative teaches her to tie her first simple pattern. Only when a girl has completed at least one pua is she considerable eligible for marriage.
As a young woman, and when she is more sure of herself, she will venture to copy more potent patterns, occasionally making minor changes without fear of spiritual retribution. Once a woman has completed several puas (blanket), kain kebat (skirts) and at least one baju (jacket) she may then tattoo the base of her thumb as a sign of her status just as the head hunter, who has taken several heads will tattoo some finger joints or the back of his hand. To progress even further as a weaver she must have a dream in which the helping spirit (antu nulong) appears.
The next important stage in weaver development is knowing how to create a new pattern. (tau nengekebang). Usually, a deity appears in the weavers’ dream to show a specific pattern. Disobedience to that dream may bring on illness. Thus a newly created design comes from the Iban mythology and the gods themselves. To mark the high status, the pattern is usually completed with a praise name (julok). However, the highest status is to become a nindu tau nakar tau ngar “a woman who knows how to measure the mordants and to perform proper rites…”
Very few women reach this status. She will become well known within the longhouse and beyond. In the early days, she was given the honour of receiving the heads from the warriors in her pua kumbu. Today, she is given the honour to sing at festivals and receives a pig’s liver on a plate instead of the head.
When the dye is very hot and before the threads are placed in a trough, the women will walk through it three times to imitate the men’s walking on the warpath. The tau ngar will lead the ladies, as leader of the ritual. Women have said “Men brave the dangers of headhunting. We women brave the dangers of ngar”. The ngar ritual is termed kayau indu, the warpath of the women.
The Charms or Stones
A deity may help the weaver perform her skills. In a dream, he or she will tell the weaver where to find stones. The ubat pandai (smart medicine) charms will make one clever, more deft with her hands, sound health and strong spirit. A batu pengingat (the stone which helps with memory) will help her remembers the pattern. A young weaver with average self-confidence may borrow the stone from her mother even if she has not had any dreams.
There are other stones associated with the weaver. The pengerak ubong arouses or awakens the thread and the penyaga hari controls the weather. The pergerawang hati opens the heart for better understanding and the pengaroh pengelantang hati a charm capable of bestowing peace with the good omens.
Deities Associated with Weaving
Orang Panggau or Kumang
Kumang is the ideal woman of Iban legends and famed for her great beauty and proficiency in all things womanly including weaving. Kumang is given the credit for having taught the Iban women through dreams. She may carry the Iban woman through dreams with an invitation of visiting heaven. There the weaver may be shown the patterns of superior quality and beauty which she may then copy and return to her world. Most Iban weavers give credit for their creations to Kumang.
Indai Abang
Any dream that claims Indai Abang as its source is considered to be endowed with more than average powers and only weavers of high proficiency and daring will venture to copy such a pattern.
Meni
The Goddess of Waters has the power to impart the art of dyeing.
Segadu
Segadu is the granddaughter of Matai the great female shaman who lives at the zenith of the sky, the dome of the stars. Segadu herself is empowered with considerable healing powers, capable of bringing comfort to the living or the dead. Because her home is way up in the skies, it is thought she has power over the weather.
From: Kayau Indu The Warpath of Women by Traude Gavin in the Sarawak Museum Journal December 1991
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