Pua kumbu ceremonial hanging with hornbill pattern

Cloths such as this play an important role in Iban ceremonies. Before the practice was abandoned in the early twentieth century, Iban men were judged by their prowess in head-hunting. The work of women was to weave pua that would be used to mark out the ritual area for head-hunting ceremonies, thus their practice was referred to as the “warpath of women.” Great ability on the part of the women who made these cloths was required because of the difficulty in obtaining the brick red dye and the skill required to make a warp ikat.The weavers of these cloths have described how some designs might appear to them in dreams while others would be passed down through older generations of women. Some motifs are considered so powerful that a woman might not dare to weave them until she has built up sufficient skill and confidence.