Ceremonial cloth (pua kumbu)

Iban weavers are expert at the ikat technique of tie-dyeing the threads of textiles before they are woven into a cloth. This is a difficult method of patterning a textile, and the skill of the artist can be seen in the clarity and intricacy of the pattern. Often valued even more than her weaving was a woman’s skill in preparing the mordants (fixatives that bind color to thread) and her ability to dye, with the knowledge of botany and chemistry it implied. Traude Gavin writes that for the Iban, leading the process of preparing threads was a “weaver’s highest possible achievement,” and was equivalent to the status of a man’s position leading a headhunting party. Both activities were seen as inherently dangerous and requiring help from the spiritual world. The origin myths of the Iban mention woven cloth, and weavers are still said to be visited in their dreams by legendary sisters who show women patterns to weave.