28 GEORGE D S-DUNBAR ON 



The tribes inhabiting the highlands north of the Brahmaputra, unlike certain 



of the Naga clans, do not habitually go naked. Boys up 

 to the age of nine or ten are of course frequently seen in a 

 state of nature, but the nearest approach to entire nakedness seen amongst adults 

 was the rough leaf skirt worn by a Dana woman from a village beyond the zone 

 influenced by civilization ; with this may be considered the custom of Abor men to 

 discard coats and loin-cloths and wear only a fibrous sporran during the rains. As 

 regards the Daflas, especially those of the Subansiri highlands where the art of 

 weaving appears to be non-existent, the women supplement their skirts of imported 

 cloth with a large number of cane rings joined together. This makes a crinoline 

 over-skirt and, together with the wide cane- work bands across their breasts and the 

 brass-studded belts that they wear, probably comprised their entire costume before 

 the fabrics of a higher civilization were obtainable. In hot weather, when working 

 in the fields or in the house, the hill women go about stripped to the waist, wearing 

 only the one cloth wound tightly round their bodies and covering them from the 

 waist to the knee. It has been gathered that the Dafla women revert to their more 

 piimitive but undoubtedly cooler garb of cane when working in the fields. 



The dress of the two sexes is dissimilar and, especially as regards the men, 

 costume differs considerably in the various communities. Clothes amongst the 

 Galongsand Abors may be divided into two categories, those that are made locally by 

 the women to supply the wants of the household and those that are imported either 

 from the North (i.e. Tibet through the Boris), from the East (Tibet from the upper 

 Dibang) or from the plains of Assam. While the art of weaving appears to be 

 unknown to the hill tribes between the Subansiri and the Aka country, the Galongs 

 and Abors have borrowed from the plains not only the loom and spinner but the 

 cotton teaser that enables the more Southern clans at all events to produce lengths of 

 cotton fabric and rough cotton rugs. The cloth is either coloured and worked into 

 patterns of bands and lines, or is plain white. The coloured cloths are woven in 

 many different designs, none of which are distinctive of any particular community. 

 Consequently detailed measurements of the various patterns are valueless for purposes 

 of comparison. The Minyong and Southern Galong cloths are usually red with blue 

 lines running through the material. Amongst the Pasials yellow and black, white 

 and red or red and green are not infrequent combinations of colour. But in modern 

 local products of the Balek Pasi-Minyong group, as in their agriculture, customs, and 

 religion, it is unsafe to consider any variation from the usages of other localities as 

 indigenous and true Abor, since the influence of the plains is very marked and is 

 growing stronger. The coloured cottons used in weaving by these Southern com- 

 munities are frequently bought from Marwari traders. These coloured cotton cloths 

 are woven in narrow strips about a foot wide Two pieces of similar design are sewn 

 together so as to bring the pattern into horizontal lines when worn as a skirt, 

 or upper garment. The usual length for a skirt of two of these pieces is about 

 3' 6" by z' . The cloths are further ornamented by a band of needle-work, sewn 

 across the cloths and at right angles to the woven pattern. In a rather striking 



