Pis Siyabit / Bunga Sama
The Yakan people of Basilan Island — an indigenous group distinct from both the Muslim Moro communities and the indigenous highland peoples — produce the most complex backstrap loom textile in the Philippines: the pis siyabit (ceremonial head cloth) and bunga sama (body cloth). These textiles use a supplementary weft technique of extraordinary density — producing geometric patterns with up to 10 supplementary colors woven simultaneously on the backstrap loom. The pis siyabit headcloth requires managing 10 separate supplementary weft threads simultaneously, each held at a specific position on the loom and brought forward in the correct sequence for each pattern row. The color management — 10 simultaneous threads at different positions — is the most complex multi-thread management in the database, surpassing even the Rungus linangkit (CRAFT-0252).
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not inscribed internationally; Philippine national ICH recognition
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