The wave of the woven past
by: Jannah Amirah V. Abdulkarim
Green is the land that served as witness to the valor of our great ancestors, and blue is the water that wrote their journey flowing into our lakes, rivers, and seas. With a palette of vivid hues, patterns weaved to tell a story, and cultures that are rich as the soils that cultivated the identity of our people, we are the subject of a painting best depicted by our shared history of struggle, our long and unremitting fight for peace and development, and our commitment to keeping our culture engraved and enriched for the generations to come. Rich cultural heritage is embedded deep in one’s literature, crafts, and arts that effectively mirror the past in hopes of providing the present and the future a glimpse of long-standing traditions and unifying symbols of cultural identity. In the proud land of Lanao, the people of the lake continue to bridge the present to its roots with women leading the artistic labor of Karara sa Dempas (Making of the mat). Maranao people have long been known to nurture a culture heavily anchored to their bold and brave roots. Banig-making is a century-old practice and art that has been widely known as a staple in Filipino households, however, the unique history, patterns, and colors mothered by each Maranao weaver signify a historic and cultural relevance indigenous and essential to the community.
Mentions of Mindanao, Moro, Hijab, and Islam often lead to an intersection of ignorant notions assuming women in our community are shackled by cultural tendencies that limit our identity into its unbending facet. However, if one must explore the depths of our culture, tradition, history, and even faith, the relief, and enlightenment of progressive practices that have long been a part of our people’s lives shall reveal an integral role in the preservation of our heritage. The women of the Bangsa who once aided in the battle towards peace, freedom, and opportunities are unsurprisingly still using their hands that used to heal into creating materials that are more than just products but pieces of the puzzle that make up the entirety of our artistic and deeply-rooted origins. While most of these women consist of an older generation of Bangsamoros who once fought for their survival, their craftmanship and dedication bring honor and chance to our culture’s survival and continuity. Each twist and turn of the susud and the mat’s patterns vary on the crafter’s inspiration which makes the dempas unique from the other mats produced elsewhere in the region. From being floormats that allowed the Maranao people to live somehow comfortably before beds and mattresses, to becoming a part of every Maranao household as mats that seat tightly-knitted families together, to accessories that make a name for the Maranao culture for its intricate design and enticing colors, the dempas is more than just a mat, it is a symbol that cradles much of our identity, history, potential, and motherland.
It is the pride of our region that our industries, craftsmen, and local businesses specialize in utilizing and elevating indigenous materials but most importantly, it is noteworthy no matter the size of the shop, the machinery, or frankly, the age of the maker, we never forget our roots, the stories it tells, the methods passed down like heirlooms that connect us to our ancestors, and the pride and identity we carry with it. While time has made up for the struggles our forebears have known, it is our responsibility to learn from the hands of the weavers how we can best preserve, promote, and pass forward the efforts made not just in diplomacy, agriculture, and literacy, but also the crafts that document the years it took to achieve such success. Perhaps the green, blue, and other hues of our land may change over time but like the hope of my predecessors, the hands
that crafted millions of our unifying symbols, I paint a vision that revolves around the mission of keeping our culture rich and alive by honoring and supporting the crafters of the lake and our land so that the Karara sa Dempas would live on to support more families, communities, and talents in our region. Our culture waves at us more often than we notice, it only right for us to wave with respect back.