T’boli
Lembaning, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato
1991
This unpublished composite photo shows unsmiling individuals who resonate with the silence and defiant stare of Indigenous people featured in some 19th-century photographs. It is what they wear that speaks of their trade history.
The lone man during the photo session wears the t’nalak (abaca textile) upper garments and trousers and a tubaw ( headcloth originating perhaps from Maranao).
The women are all wearing either the “fandi stala” or “fandi nidol”, referring to types of “lewek” (tubular garment) bought from Muslim sources. The beaded “kegal” or upper garment shows possible design borrowing from the neighboring Koronadal B’laan.
Reference: National Museum of the Philippines