Mishmi
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Hambrumai, the first weaver
Marguerite Theophil, The Speaking Tree, Weaving Tales, The Times Of India, 20 Nov. 23
Weaving is a skill we have been doing all over the world, ever since. Many stories have emerged around this art. MARGUERITE THEOPHIL retells a few, including the Mishimis tale of Hambrumai, the first weaver
In India, there is a folktale recorded from the Mishimis of north-east India, where the god, Matai, decided to teach the art of weaving to a girl called Hambrumai. This first weaver used to lie in the forest and look up at the interlacing of branches and leaves, or sit by a stream and watch the ripples, circles and spirals and then work these patterns into beautiful cloth.
However, the jealous porcupine Harium tried to steal her cloth, shattering her loom with a rock. Its pieces fell into the river, where they washed downstream to the plains. There, wherever people found pieces of the loom, they learnt how to weave. Not only that, but the lost designs of Hambrumai, remembered as the girl who taught the world to weave made, became butterflies, and even now we see butterflies’ wings bearing the designs she made.
See also
Arunachal Pradesh: Demographics/ Religion
Mishmi
Scheduled Tribes: All-India list
