Micronesian Looms: Weaving Connections in the US (6)

This is the sixth in a series of posts dealing with Weaving Connections, a project of Habele to sustain and preserve Micronesian backstrap weaving traditions among Island populations who’ve migrated to the United States mainland. More here.

Ongoing Work

Habele continues to build and send warping boards, loom frames, and weaving tools based on its published designs posted on the WeavingConnections.org website as it receives request from Remathau weavers in the mainland United States who are otherwise unable to build one or have one built for them.

Habele continues to update the design guides on WeavingConnections.org to reflect feedback received, lessons learned, and improvements.

Habele continues to examine and experiment with possible solutions to the challenges of procuring, crafting, or developing a sufficient substitute for weaving swords.

Opportunities for Evolution and Expansion

-Migrant Community on Guam and Hawaii

While half of FSM migrants now arrive in the US mainland, the other half are primarily located in the US Territory of Guam and the State of Hawaii. The strong and unanticipated volume of requests for support in creating and obtaining weaving equipment and tools from Guam and Hawaii indicate that those communities have the need and interest for further support.

This is particularly true among female migrants under thirty years of age, who are less likely to be cohabitating with, or be situated near, older men who historically have been the one to produce or procure these items.

-Weaving Swords

The Weaving sword, or hapop, remains the only item which we have been unable to produce and or publish a guide for fabricating, owing to the very unique characteristics of the tropical wood from which these have long been fabricated. The qualities of these hardwoods are necessary for the function of the tool, and the hapop is an essential and specific tool necessary for women to weave.

-Documenting the Lavalava

In the process of identifying and analyzing documentation about the fabrication and use of Caroline Island woven skirts, we failed to locate any text detailing in much depth the specifics of the skirts themselves. Most treatments were either very brief, or focused on the skirts’ role in cultural practices.

On the other hand, weavers recounted to us much about patterns, symbols, and other variable characteristics of the garment, indicating there is a broad, important, and as-yet undocumented realm of knowledge about the lavalavas and the cultural meaning contained within their design.

This is the sixth in a series of posts dealing with Weaving Connections, a project of Habele to sustain and preserve Micronesian backstrap weaving traditions among Island populations who’ve migrated to the United States mainland. More here.

Micronesian Looms: Weaving Connections in the US (4)

This is the fourth in a series of posts dealing with Weaving Connections, a project of Habele to sustain and preserve Micronesian backstrap weaving traditions among Island populations who’ve migrated to the United States mainland. More here.

Further Engagement of On-Island Weavers and Craftsmen

Publication of photos of initial designs and prototypes on social media spurred a further wave of input from women weavers and male craftsmen in the US, Yap, and beyond. These parties provided photos of their own looms, boards, and weaving tools as well as detailed feedback and suggestions on the evolving prototypes. Themes of the feedback included the strong preference for warping boards that could fold for storage, and to a lesser degree, loom frames that could be dis- and reassembled, as well as boards that could be laid out for multiple of the warping peg patterns commonly used throughout Yap State.

We also noted trends in feedback that stressed the importance of loom frames that could be easily secured to walls, as well as strong (but varied) feedback on tabletop versus floor use that guided the design of the warping boards.

At this point, as photos were being posted on social media, Habele began to directly receive requests for warping boards, looms, and weaving tools. Habele strongly communicated that the project was intended to serve Remathau islanders (Outer Island Yapese) living within the mainland US, and that the project was designed to provide a do-it-yourself guide for individuals to make their own items.

Still, many requests were received from women living on Guam and Hawaii, and many requests were made by women (on the mainland and otherwise) who indicated that they would have a difficult time finding a male relative who could build the items, even once provided the detailed instructions. Specifically, we received requests from single women or women living in groups with children but without adult Remathau male household members.

Development of Designs

Final designs were determined. These balanced the initial goals of a simple DIY guide, with flexibility to add or adapt improvements for storage and transportation, and integrating advancements and variations shared with, or developed by, the team.

This is the fourth in a series of posts dealing with Weaving Connections, a project of Habele to sustain and preserve Micronesian backstrap weaving traditions among Island populations who’ve migrated to the United States mainland. More here.