Travel Photography Photos tagged as mindanao
On top of the highest mountain in the Philippines (Mt Apo). Taken August 15, 2010
T’BOLI DREAMWEAVERS. A T'boli weaver works on her Tinalak cloth in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato in Mindanao, Philippines. The Tinalak ‘sacred cloth’ is the T’boli tribe’s most fame product. Each single pattern, according to T’bolis, is dreamed by the weaver, and it comes in three ways: from the ancestors, from one's mother, and from one's own dream. A ceremonial clothing of both men and women, the Tinalak is a deep brown abaca cloth tie-dyed with intricate red and beige designs. Natural vegetable dyes are used to stain the fibres before the cloth is woven.It is exchanged at the time of marriage and is used as a covering during birth to ensure a safe delivery. The T'Boli believe that cutting the cloth will cause serious illness or death. If it is sold, a brass ring is often attached to appease the spirits. The Tinalak Festival, named after a woven cloth popularized by the T'boli tribe, is celebrated in the second week of July.
T’BOLI CHARMS.T’boli women learn to adorn themselves from early childhood. They apply cosmetics and arrange their hair, adorning it with traditional combs which have dangling strings of colored beads. For them, “more is better” when it comes to accessories; they do not wear just one of each type of accessory, but put on all that they can accommodate. Combs aside, they also adorn themselves with earrings, necklaces, girdle (hilot), bracelets, anklets, rings, and of course colourful costumes.
T’BOLI OF LAKE SEBU. An elderly T’boli woman, scooping water hyacinth from her owong, the traditional canoe used by the lake dwelling T’boli tribe of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, Mindanao, the Philippines. Made from a carved out tree trunk, the canoe gives a more unique charm to the scenic lake which the T’boli tribe considers as not only a God-given food basket but also a miraculous body of water that never dries up. The lake which irrigates the fertile Allah Valley, is recognized as one of the most important watershed areas in the Philippines and is proclaimed as a Protected Landscape. Sadly, denudatation of the surrounding forests seems to have claimed much of the beauty of Lake Sebu, described as the ‘Summer Capital of South Cotabato’ and a premier ecotourism destination.