The Journey of Lang Dulay
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Hailing from a long ancestry of T'boli people, Lang Dulay was born on August 3, 1928 from the Lake Sebu region in South Cotabato. At the young age of 12yrs old she began to learn weaving from her mother Luan Senig then spurred on by her dreams of different designs and has continued ever since.
Before the 1960s, the Tboli bartered tnalak for horses, which played an important role in their work. Upon the establishment of Sta. Cruz Mission, which encouraged the community to weave and provided them with a means to market their produce, the Tnalak designs gained widespread popularity and enabled weavers like Lang to earn a steady income from their art. However, the demand also resulted in the commercialization of the tnalak industry, with outsiders coming in to impose their own designs on the Tboli weavers.
Ironically modern designs get a better price than the traditional ones. Despite this, and the fact that those modern designs are easier to weave, Lang Dulay persists in doing things the old, if harder, way, to give voice, in effect, to the songs that were her elders’ before her.
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Using abaca fibers as fine as hair, Lang Dulay speaks more eloquently than words can. Images from the distant past of her people, the Tbolis, are recreated by her nimble hands – the crocodiles, butterflies, and flowers, along with mountains and streams, of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, where she and her ancestors were born – fill the fabric with their longing to be remembered. Through her weaving, Lang Dulay does what she can to keep her people’s traditions alive.
In her late 70s back in 1998, Lang Dulay received the National Living Treasure (Manlilikha ng Bayan) award from the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for her contribution to the preservation of their culture and for her fine craftsmanship of the delicate abaca fibers.
Lang Dulay was able to pass on all the techniques she learned to her granddaughters and students. Lang Dulay's five granddaughters are proud weavers themselves and follow in the footsteps of their grandmother.
She died on April 30, 2015 however legacy will live on for generations to come.
A Documentary of Lang Dulay's Legacy
Facts about Lang Dulay
The T'nalak Master Weaver Lang Dulay is known for knowing more than a hundred patterns, including the Bulinglangit (clouds), Bankiring (hair bangs), and Kabangi (butterfly), each of which is unique due to the tales it conveys.
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Finished T'nalak fabrics designed and signed by Lang Dulay could pitch as much as 1,200 pesos per meter or even higher depending on the complexity of the design.
