Category Archives: Dress and ornaments

“We have forgotten the habit of putting a towel on our shoulder and embroider the end-pieces of our towels but we have not forgotten our childhood friendship.” – Synopsis by Boro Baski for “Bagi kedalang (We no longer do the same)”, a song composed and performed by staff and students of the Rolf Schoembs Vidyashram (Non-formal Santal school, Ghosaldanga village, Dist.-Birbhum, West Bengal), included in the Santali video album “Ale Ato” (Our Village)
https://youtu.be/OU15PO8TFnA
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?page_id=25317

“Hidden within the colour, weave and design of tribal textiles are many legends. […] Each pattern is a little capsule of information—containing tales of ancestors, social values, clan practices, and more. […] It has also been observed that the one thing common to most weaves and motifs is the role of women as creators.” – Avantika Bhuyan (interviewing members the North East Network) in “Folklore, myths and handloom” (Livemint, 1 December 2017)
https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/FR23TDZqwz1hDYOlB5mRSN/Folklore-myths-and-handloom.html
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=23691 

“The western region consists of the desert states of Gujarat and Rajasthan as well as Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and western Madhya Pradesh. […] The region is home to a wide variety of people with different religious ‘s and cultures, most of whom have distinctive traditional textiles. They include Jains, Parsis, Hindus and Muslims, as well as tribal groups such as the Bhils and Mina. Yet the dominant characteristic of the traditional saris and odhnis of all these communities, as with all western Indian fabrics, is colour. […] This region’s propensity toward colour has deep roots, for it is here that the Indus Valley civilization developed cotton-growing and -dyeing technologies.” – Linda Lynton in The Sari: Styles, Patterns, History, Techniques (London 1995)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=11257

“[I]t is one of the signs of the ‘educated’ barbarian of today that he cannot appreciate the qualities of people in any way different from himself – in looks or clothes, customs or rituals.” – Guest Column titled “Hands off tribal culture” (India Today, 9 January 2014)
https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/guest-column/story/19800915-hands-off-tribal-culture-821415-2014-01-09
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=11257