Weaving is a significant tradition amongst the Dayak communities; a craft practised and mastered predominantly by the women even till today. Textiles such as the intricately patterned pua kumbu of the Iban peoples are accomplished by first tying and dying the threads before weaving them with the use of a backstrap loom. In the weaving process, the weft thread would be shuttled through the warp threads from either the left or right using a jengkuan such as this one. These loom shuttles would have a partially hollowed out core for the yarn, and an opened edge for it to be released. The tools that are used for weaving, such as jengkuan, may sometimes be finely carved. This particular piece has been decorated with coiling foliate motifs characteristic of the woodcarving traditions of many of the Dayak communities, especially the Iban. While weaving was largely the domain of women, woodcarving is largely that of the men of the communities.
