The Tapis of the Kalinga Tribe

The province of kalinga is known as one of the places in the Philippines where weaving is traditionally practice up until now. The major weaving center in Kalinga is the village of Mabilong in the town of Lubuagan. The Kalinga weaver’s designs are embedded in the geometric motifs with the traditional color combination of red and black stripes. This colors potrays different symbols to them, as for red symbolizes bravery while black represents the earth or ground. The skirt that is often accompanied by a jacket is the basic dress for women in the Kalinga province. In Tagalog language, this form of wraparound skirt is commonly known as tapis and as ka-in to the Kalinga. It is distinguished by horizontal stripes along the joints and sides, bordered by decorated panels. This is further decorated in traditional fashion with embroidery, beads and mother-of-pearl shells. For mountainous groups such as the Kalinga, the shells are attached so they must shift and reflect light. This brings a complex dimension to the skirt's overall design. Comparing their clothing then and now,there were no upper clothes for women before, but as the modernization has come to affect, earth-colored blouses are now worn for decency purposes.However, going out topless before was not considered as indecent.In fact,being nude is pure and innocent and not an indecent exposure. Men did not look women with impure feelings, and no instances of rape occurred in that generation.