Buri fiber ID

[Cherubim Quizon <mgsot@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi! Amy Rosenberg forwarded to me your original inquiry about saguran as
well as the replies from your colleagues.

I am not an expert on buri fibers; my field & museum work focuses on
abaca ikat textiles in Mindanao (Philippines) but I have a few bits of
information on saguran that may be of help.  I did  a quick search
through my dissertation footnotes and found this. I attach at the end
the citation used. I obtained my photocopy of this publication from the
library of the University of the Philippines (in Diliman, Quezon City,
the principal campus).

What I have below is taken verbatim from my footnotes. I did not
countercheck whether Wallace's scientific id for buri (Corypha utan
Lmk.) has been synonymized/updated since the 1950s but I am sure you can
verify that easily. If you have any questions, please feel free to
contact me by email and I will try to answer as best as I can.

Cheree

EXCERPT FOLLOWS:
Wallace lists sinamay along with saguran, a textile made with
buri-raffia palm, as commonly sold in the markets of Davao and Cebu in
the 1950s in widths that can reach 36 to 40 inches and woven on what she
calls ?native? looms that have many local variants per area (Wallace
1953:51). There are many indigenous fiber types used in the Philippines
apart from abaca. These include leaf sources for fine mats such as
pandan (Pandanus litoralis), a local raffia called buri (Corypha utan
Lmk.), a local jute called saluyot (Corchorus olitorius and C.
capsularis), rattan (Calamut ornatus), maguey (Agave sp.), coconut
midrib and coir twine (Cocos nucifera) and of course the very fine
diaphanous cloth called pina (Ananas comesus) made with knotted fiber
from the pineapple leaf in a very laborious process similar to the
preparation of abaca thread (Wallace 1953).

Wallace, Lysbeth.  1953.  Hand-weaving in the Philippines.  New York:
United Nations Technical Assistance Program.


Cherubim A Quizon
PhD Candidate, Anthropology
SUNY Stony Brook