The Story of the Dream Weaver
It was on August 3, 1928 when Lang Dulay was born in the region of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. She was only 12 when she was first taught how to weave by her mother, Luan Senig. Throughout the years, she had dreamed of passing on her talent and skills to the young people of the T'boli community, which included four of her grandchildren. Ever since, Lang Dulay became one of the most prominent traditional weavers of the t'nalak or T'boli cloth who had pioneered the use of refined abaca fibers.
Lang Dulay knew a hundred textile designs such as the bulinglangit (clouds), the bankiring (hair bangs), and the kabangi (butterfly). Some of which were notably conceptualized based on her dreams, hence the reason why she was dubbed as the "dream weaver". With the use of red and black dyes in designing the t'nalak, Lang Dulay was not only able to gracefully tell her stories and her dreams, but also reflect the wisdom, struggles, and the visions of her people.
Due to the establishment of the St. Cruz Mission, the T'boli community was given a means to market their woven products. The t'nalak designs subsequently became well-known and had allowed weavers such as Lang Dulay to earn a sustainable income from their produce. However, the widespread popularity of the t'nalak designs had also precipitated its commercialization, as investors came into the picture to modify the t'nalak designs of the T'boli weavers. Thus, the original t'nalak designs had to compete against contemporary designs in the market. Despite the competition, Lang Dulay carried on with weaving in the old-fashioned way, whereas outsiders opted to use easier methods of weaving their own versions of t'nalak.
In 1998, Lang Dulay became a recipient of the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) award for being proficient in the traditional art of abaca ikat weaving when it was on the verge of dying out. She cried tears of joy upon being informed of this as she envisioned the school that she had always wished to build for the women of the T'boli community. Her wish came to fruition in the form of a workshop at the Manlilikha ng Bayan Center in Sitio Tukolefa, Lamdalag, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato – where students are taught the art of t'nalak weaving.
Unfortunately in 2015, Lang Dulay fell into a coma after suffering a mild stroke. After being comatosed for nearly three months, she passed away on April 30 of the same year at the age of 86. As a GAMABA awardee, she was given a state funeral with full state honors and was laid to rest by her house in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato.
