Ambalang Ausalin, who was recognized as a National Treasure for keeping the Yakan weaving tradition alive, has died due to a lingering illness, authorities said Friday. She was 78.
Ausalin expired at around 4 a.m. in her home in Parangbasak, Lamitan City in Basilan province, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts said.
“Apuh Ambalang” to her tribal community of weavers, Ausalin was highly esteemed in her town due to her "incomparable" skills and dedication to their handweaving tradition called "tennun", said the NCCA.
"She possesses the complex knowledge of the entire weaving process, aware at the same time of the cultural significance of each textile design or category," the NCAA said.
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In 2017, Ausilin was one of the three Mindanaoans who were conferred the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan award, which recognized her legacy as a Yakan woman who dedicated her life to keeping alive the indigenous practice.
"The tennun Yakan is an extraordinarily important manifestation of Yakan culture. Its categories, colors, designs or motifs, and significance will constantly remind Ambalang, in her outstanding handwork, what it means to be Yakan — people of the earth," NCAA said of her in a profile.
"Through her craft, Ambalang as a’a pandey megtetennun (an expert weaver), affirms their identity as a people who continuously weave the threads of culture, interlacing past, present, and, hopefully, the future, in becoming a cultural treasure for the new generation Yakan, for all Filipinos, and all humankind," it added.
In a tweet, Vice President Leni Robredo condoled over the death of Auslin.
Through her office's flagship program "Angat Buhay", Robredo recently turned over the Weaving Center they built in support of Yakan Weavers.
