Hinabing Panaginip: A Riveting Glimpse into the Life of Dream Weavers

Hinabing Panaginip/ Dream Weavers Reaction Paper

Hinabing Panaginip or Dream Weavers, a documentary video directed by Fruto Corre is about the life of the people from Northern Cotobato; the T’bolis. The whole process of making the old T’nalak; one of the most remarkable creations of the T’bolis, was presented in the video.

The T’nalak fabric holds a very special place in T’boli culture. It is always present in really important turning points in a T’boli‘s life such as birth, marriage, and death.

It has also often been referred to as “woven dreams”. T’nalak is made of Abaca fibers which traditionally has three primary colors, red, black and the original color of the Abaca leaves. The colorant of the things used in making this traditional cloth are naturally dyed boiled in with bark, roots and leaves of plants.

It is said that the T’bolis create T’nalak because they believe that following their dreams is a must.

Get quality help now

Marrie pro writer

Verified writer

Proficient in: Dream

5 (204)

“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

They had to do what is indicated in their memories. The designs that they clearly see in their dreams have certain meanings and requirements. With this, T’nalak has become their sacred treasure. The T’bolis expressed everything in the T’nalak: their dreams, beliefs, myths and even their religion. T’bolis consider it taboo to cut the cloth because they strongly believe that doing so will make them severely ill. They respect T’nalak weavers a lot like how they do to their warriors. The undenaiable quality of the fabric is a rich legacy of creative art handed down from generation to generation for thousands of years.

Perhaps, the artistic and spiritual dedication of the T'boli women of Lake Sebu made the existence of T’nalak last for centuries. But as time goes by, urbanization has forced most tribe members into poverty. Modernization became a threat to their culture.

Watching the documentary video made me feel proud and sad at the same time. As a Filipino, I am very proud to have the same nationality as these very talented, hardworking and passionate people. They really made me want to salute them for they deserve a “You’re the best” award. I was amazed on how people can be that artistic. I have never imagined that a used ballpen could become a bead to produce necklaces! But I was disappointed because I realized that these days, people would not want to buy our own products. In fact, people would buy imported ones instead. Before, one T’nalak is equivalent to a horse or a house. But now, one T’nalak only costs about two to three hundred pesos. See how things change in a matter of time? I still believe that no matter how hard it is to survive in this era, the T’bolis will still keep their culture intact. I pray that their artistic spirit will not only last for another century but for eternity.