This roll of white hemp cloth, woven on a backstrap loom, is a good example of how cloth looks before it is indigo-dyed or embroidered. White cloth such as this is also used by the Hmong people to make pleated skirts for young girls before their marriage, which are worn for special occasions thereafter at death. The Hmong believe that hemp is the link to the ancestors.The Hmongs were originally highlanders from southern China. From about the late 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, due to economic, political and environmental factors, they were forced to move southwards into mainland Southeast Asia.
