Loom Design/Loomates/Karbi Loom >> | Assam
The Karbi (कार्बी लोग karbee log; assamese/bangla: কাৰ্বি জনগোষ্ঠী) or Mikir people of Assam (Seven Sister States) in Northeast-India live mainly in the hill district of Karbi Anglong. They call themselves Arleng ("man"). They use a native backstrap weaving loin loom with a circular warp. You may observe two methods, one with a reed comb, the other without!
The loin loom of the Karbi people is a kind of stake loom-type, what means the loom gets externally-braced by two poles, driven into the ground. Many weaving tools of the Karbi are still done by bamboo. The culture of Karbi bases on weaving silk, that was done on their basic loom without the use of a reed comb. In contact with Indian culture of cotton weaving techniques brought the reed comb into their loom. (Maybe we should mention, that their "reed" comb, as all other "natural" reed combs on the world, are done by bamboo, but no "reed" at all!) Bamboo and silk, that's the combination that made their very own textile, because the moth, they get their silk from, lives in the bamboo. So, even the containers and huts for caterpillar breeding in Karbi villages are traditionally done by bamboo.
- Have a look onto the location and circumstances the weaver sets the warping and read about the Weaving hut of Karbi people.
Warping Tutorial
- Watch the tutorial Warping a Karbi Loin Loom by Samili Ingtipi! She runs the video channel Phirtak on youtube, that introduces you to the loin loom of the Karbi people.
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