The Cultures and Textiles of the Lesser Sunda Islands

The Lesser Sunda Islands that stretch eastwards from Bali are home to many different ethnic groups, each having their own language, oral history, rituals and ways of life. In each of these societies, textiles play a crucial role. They are not simply clothes that are worn to cover the body – they convey messages about personal identity, social status, clan alliances and age. They are the cement that holds each community together. Textiles are also an important form of wealth – equivalent to having money in the bank.

On these islands most people are born into the clan of their father and these clans are exogamous – young men and women must find a partner from a different clan. Marriage is underpinned by an exchange of gifts, which are extremely expensive for those involved. The clan of the groom must provide bridewealth in the form of durable goods, such as elephant tusks, gold jewellery or bronze gongs and drums while the clan of the bride must reciprocate with a counter prestation in the form of consumables, primarily high-quality textiles. That is why some people say: ‘without cloth we cannot marry’.

Throughout these islands the three key ingredients for making traditional textiles are tree cotton and two natural dyes – the leaves of indigo for blue and the bark of the roots of the morinda tree for red. Some of the indigo is often overdyed with morinda to give purple. All of these ingredients grow close to the coast, not in the interior, so this is where the textile making communities are found. Consequently, the ideal way to visit them is by boat.

Today many communities no longer spin their own cotton, but use commercial machine-spun cotton instead. Even so, it’s fascinating to see what hugely different textiles are produced using exactly the same materials, from the small intricate designs used in the Ende Regency of Flores to the large bold motifs we see on men’s hip wrappers from Sumba.

It’s amazing to see how wonderful works of art can be made using the simplest crudely fashioned tools and equipment. In eastern Flores and on Lembata we still see lots of hand-spun cotton, but the thread is produced in very different ways. On Flores ladies sit on the floor using a hand- and foot-operated spinning wheel, but on Lembata women drop spin using a simple spindle while walking to the market. On Savu they sit to spin, supporting their spindle on a plate.

There are many beliefs and taboos associated with the production of textiles – indigo should only be made by non-menstruating women, some designs can only be woven by post-menopausal women, most highland villages are prohibited from weaving and a chicken should be sacrificed before starting to weave a new piece. Textiles become a way of gaining insights into the societies that make them, their culture and their beliefs.

Join us on this journey to explore the rich tapestry of the Lesser Sunda Islands!

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Photo Credit and Source: David and Sue Richardson, Asian Textile Studies