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In Barangay Parang, in the island of Jolo, Sulu province, women weavers are hard at work weaving the pis syabit, the traditional cloth tapestry worn as a head covering by the Tausug of Jolo. “This is what we’ve grown up with,” say the weavers. “It is something we’ve learned from our mothers.” Darhata Sawabi is one of those who took the art of pis syabit making to heart.
Darhata Sawabi is a Tausug textile weaver from Sulu. She was hailed as an expert in weaving colorful squares of cloth used for the pis syabit and for adornment of the native attire, bags and accessories as well as in teaching the art to the younger generation.
Unmarried, Sawabi does weaving as a means of livelihood since farming, a common source of income for Parang families, is not sustainable for herself. Pis syabit weaving is a tedious work. It takes three days for the warp alone to be made. By age 48, she employs the help of apprentice weavers and children in her work. In the 1970s, she has to moved residence at least twice due to the Moro conflict.Sawabi died on March 12, 2005,about a year after she was given the National Living Treasures Award.
In Barangay Parang, in the island of Jolo, Sulu province, women weavers are hard at work weaving the pis syabit, the traditional cloth tapestry worn as a head covering by the Tausug of Jolo. “This is what we’ve grown up with,” say the weavers. “It is something we’ve learned from our mothers.” Darhata Sawabi is one of those who took the art of pis syabit making to heart.
Her native Parang's families still rely on subsistence farming as their primary source of income. Farming, on the other hand, does not provide enough income to maintain a family, and it is not even a possibility for someone like Darhata Sawabi, who has been raised to perform solely housework since birth. She's never been married. As a result, weaving is her only source of income. She has become self-sufficient and less reliant on her nephews and nieces thanks to the money she makes from creating colorful fabric squares. She earns around P2,000 for a hand-woven square spanning 39 by 40 inches and taking her three months to weave. Tausug buys these squares to use as headpieces, as well as to decorate native clothing, bags, and other items.
Weaving pis syabit is a challenging skill. It takes three days just to prepare the warp. Stringing black and red threads across a banana and bamboo frame to produce the tapestry's basis is a fairly mechanical process. Sawabi, now 48 and exhausted from years of hard work, no longer has the strength or stamina to do this. Instead, she pays P300 to one of the neighborhood children or apprentice weavers to do it. When you consider that she still needs to pay for thread, it's a significant sum. Sawabi's regular works include a variety of colors, including the basic black and red that make up the warp, and depending on the color, up to eight cones may be required.
Sawabi's art is also beset with difficulties. Sawabi and her family were frequently forced to flee their house in search of better homes throughout the 1970s, when Jolo was torn apart by armed conflict. It was a sad experience for her the first time she was forced to forsake her weaving because she couldn't bring the loom with her to the forest where they took safety. The pis she had been working on for nearly a month had been damaged by the fighting when they came home. There was nothing she could do but pick up the shattered bits of her loom and begin over. She and her family were forced to relocate twice as a result of the violence.
Sawabi remains faithful to the art of pis syabit weaving. Her strokes are firm and sure, her color sensitivity acute, and her dedication to the quality of her products unwavering. She recognizes the need for her to remain in the community and continue with her mission to teach the art of pis syabit weaving. She had, after all,