Bamboo Weaving Crafts of Hill and Plain Tiwas of Assam

Most of the communities residing in the state of Assam share common culture traits. The factors are mostly acculturation due to common geographical territories and having common natural resources. Material culture, particularly, bamboo basketry is no exception to this commonality of culture trait. There are, therefore many baskets and crafts which are commonly used by many communities of Assam, with even the weaving pattern being the same, hence the difficulty in outlining which craft originally belongs to which community. However, there are a few skills and indigenous knowledge of certain communities, such as dyeing, layering and others which are maintained inclusively. These knowledges still existent, stand as the evidences to each of their distinctiveness. In this study, the bamboo basketry of the Tiwa tribe has been explored. With the help of proper collection of the attributes, dimensions, and weaving patterns of the bamboo craft items, this paper is an attempt to document the bamboo craftsmanship of the Tiwas and the weaving techniques from both hill and plain areas of Assam.