Montagnard Dega Weaving and Traditional Dances

The traditional Montagnard Dega weaving is practiced today in North Carolina to connect cultures together and also to tell the stories of the tribes in Central Highlands: Jarai, Bunong, Koho, Bahnar, Rhad. On the MDA (Montagnard Dega Association), they write about how the textiles are created, "The back-strap or body-tension loom has been used throughout Southeast Asia for thousands of years and is still used by Montagnard Dega in Vietnam and other hill tribes in neighboring countries. Weaving consists of interlacing horizontal threads, called the weft, within a vertical series of threads, called the warp. Back-strap looms are generally no wider than the weaver’s arm span so large textiles are made by joining several separate pieces together." 

As an artist, myself, I would really enjoy learning how to make any kind of textile and also the stories behind each of the tribes mentioned above. Being able to expand my horizons with the traditional weaving experience would not only become a part of my background to show other people who are interested. But it also connects two different cultures today. 

In the traditional style of weaving, they would  grow their own cotton to weave the textiles and use indigo plants to dye the cotton for color threads. Here in the U.S., they do not have the access to grow their own cotton or indigo plants so they have to resort to the manufactured cotton and colored cotton, which in some case is better since the expert weaver is not limited by the colors chosen. 

I am hoping to be able to meet with two different but related very closely to one another. The first person I would like to meet would be the Montagnard Dega weavers. My goal in meeting with the weavers would be to learn the connection between the textiles and the heritage behind them. I would also love to experience the traditional weaving technique. The other person I would like to meet would be the Montagnard Dega dancers. Just like the weavers, the dancers have a connection to their heritage through their traditional dances and I would be honor, as a dancer myself, to learn a few of the traditional dances. Along with learning the dances, I would also like to experience the knowledge and depth within the dance. I wish I could give you more information about the traditional dance and dancers but I have not been able to find a clear explanation on how and why they continue these dances. The most obvious reason would to keep their heritage connection with them, even when they do move away from their homeland.