Charter School in Chuuk Aims to Revive Loom Weaving

An innovative Charter school is reintroducing old cultural skills to local students on Weno, capital of the most populous state in the Federated States of Micronesia.

A distinctive form of backstrap loom weaving was once ubiquitous across the Caroline Islands, today’s Federated States of Micronesia. Now the intricate work of crafting these textiles endures only in the small outer islands strung distantly between Chuuk and Yap. The Akoyikoyi School is looking to change that, hoping to bring loom weaving back to Chuuk Lagoon.

The effort was made possible in part by the donation of a handcrafted warp board, backstrap looms, peripheral weaving tools, and thread from Habele. Funding was generously provided by the Matson Foundation of Hawaii.

Akoyikoyi is a tuition-free charter school accredited by the Chuuk State Department of Education. Community involvement is an important component of Akoyikoyi school so parents are required to attend PTA meetings to stay informed and involved in their childrens’ education. The school combines both Chuukese and English native speaking staff who are needed for proper bilingual instruction and cross-cultural awareness.

Habele is a nonprofit, established by former Peace Corps Volunteers, that works across Micronesia to serve students and schools. Habele’s support of cultural skills developed in Yap from its sponsorship of after school mentorship programs using traditional techniques, such as carving and weaving, to imbue students with a sense of accomplishment and community participation.

Young woman loom weavingin the Outer Islands of Yap, where the practice remains common.

Aware of Habele’s WeavingConnections program, which supports Outer Island weavers who have migrated to the United States, Akoyikoyi asked Habele for a loom of the sort still used in the Western Caroline Islands.

“This school year we started a traditional skills class,” explained Clark Graham, of Akoyikoyi. “The students are learning to weave coconut fronds for roofing. Plans call for them to learn how to weave other things, including coconut baskets to carry food and also the round basket used to carry breadfruit.

Portions of looms and tools designed by Outer Islanders of Yap, fabricated by Habele and sent to Akoyikoyi School in Chuuk.

He explained that having “a tyr (Chuukese for ‘loom’) would be another step in the learning process allowing participating students to get more in touch with their traditional arts.”

A personal connection adds further significance to the project. Graham’s son Curt’s “paternal great grandmother was the last woman in Penia to use a tyr. “When she died, the loom was placed in her grave,” recounts Graham “That marked the end of such weaving. “

Penia is a village on the northeast shore of Weno. This timeline of weaving’s decline in the Chuuk Lagoon appears consistent with published reports. In his widely cited “Material Culture of Truk,” American Anthropologist Frank M. Lebar observed that by his 1947 fieldwork “weaving had all but disappeared on Truk.” LeBar identified only eight older women among his interviewees on Romonum, a lagoon island, who “knew some or all of the processes of weaving.”

“Its great to be a small part of this,” explained Habele Founder Neil Mellen, himself a former Peace Corps Volunteer who taught in the Outer Islands of Yap. “The credit goes to the educators at Akoyikoyi, the weavers from Yap’s Outer Islands who worked with Habele to document the weaving equipment, and the Matson Foundation who had the generosity to pay for the raw materials and shipping.”

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“Weaving Connections” supports Micronesian Weavers in US Mainland

Beautiful loom-woven textiles of Micronesia display an artistry and technical virtuosity unrivaled elsewhere in the Pacific. Chief among them is the lavalava, a woven skirt from the Outer Islands of Yap State, situated in the Western Caroline Islands.

A new website aims to ensure this important cultural skill is preserved among weavers who have moved far from home.

Weaving these skirts requires tremendous skill, work and patience. It also requires a special type of backstrap loom. The size and weight of these items are such that few women who move off island for health, education, or employment are able to bring a loom with them.

Many migrants are young women, who depart the islands to further their education at an age by which they may not have completely mastered weaving skills. Once in the United States they are often in proximity to other Outer Islanders with expertise, but who similarly lack looms. It is at this point –when young women who lack weaving skills arrive in the US, or women who can weave but lack access to looms give birth to daughters in the US- that the link in transmission of weaving skills is fatally severed.

Habele’s WeavingConnections.org was created to help sustain the tradition among migrants in the mainland US. The site offers context on the lavalava and the cultural tradition in which it is situated. The project provides details about the parts of the loom used to weave lavalavas. Most importantly, Weaving Connections offers simple Do-It-Yourself instructions for Remathau in the mainland US to make looms from easily obtainable materials.

“The site is a labor of love,” explained Habele Founder Neil Mellen. “So many passionate skilled women in the Outer Islands, Yap, Guam, Hawaii and the mainland have given generously of their time and expertise. It is clear to them all how fragile the transmission of these skills really is as Micronesian migrants fan out far from their home islands.”

Weaving Connections” is an initiative of the Habele Outer Island Education Fund, a nonprofit established by former Peace Corps who served in Micronesia. Since 2006, Habele has provided direct support to students, schools and communities across the FSM through book donations, tuition scholarships, high school robotics and the support of traditional mentorship programs.