Enriching Iban Pua Kumbu: Weaving Tradition and Innovation in an Indigenous Society

Textiles have been a highly valued part of many Indigenous societies across the world and over millennia. This pathbreaking book examines the large woven ceremonial cloths known as pua kumbu, long associated with the Iban peoples of the interior of Sarawak, Malaysia. In both scholarly and popular studies of these sacred cloths, the process of creating pua kumbu is identified explicitly with the women who weave them, using oral tradition for the passing on of designs and practice, in a task that is skilful, physically demanding and strenuous. Based on more than a decade of ethnographic fieldwork and collaborative engagement with a longhouse community, this study seeks to break new ground, both empirically and conceptually. It is framed around a number of key themes: the origins, symbolism and use of the cloths; the place of female weavers in Iban society; the creative tension between conservation, innovation and transformation; and the significance of insider Indigenous knowledge for sustainable community development. Enriching Iban Pua Kumbu is a valuable work for advanced students, researchers and general readers interested in the intersection of material culture, social status and community engagement, such as cultural anthropologists, archaeologists, economists, museum curators and historians.