As crops fail, Indonesia's Sumba seeks lifeline in weaving, fishing
On Indonesia's Sumba island, the motifs displayed on traditional textiles produced by its weavers often depict animals, including the area's famed Sandalwood breed of horses.
Left: A horse grazes on a field in Kanatang district.
Right: A horse's skull is pictured at a field in Hamba Praing village.
Left: Noti and Ranjawali prepare to hand weave a traditional Sumba Ikat textile at Atma La Kanatang, their weaving house.
Right: A traditional handwoven Sumba Ikat textile.
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"The horses easily get ill. They don't have anything in their stomach. Every year, there are always deaths," said Ndaha.
The sun rises over Waingapu.
Julkarnaen Mansyur, 33, a fisherman from Waingapu, carries his net back to the seashore after fishing on Maudolung Beach.
Mangrove trees stand at Walakiri beach during sunset.
Ndaha goes fishing with his son Dimas Mbaha Konda Lura, 11, and Ndaha's friends at Puru Kambera beach.
Dimas displays a fish that he grilled.
Kalara Ata Jenji, 49, rests with her granddaughter on the sand as Ndaha, her husband, goes fishing.
A toy car, made with a plastic bottle, sits outside Ndaha's house in Hamba Praing village.
A tree stands on a hill in Kanatang district.
Noti hand weaves a traditional Sumba Ikat textile.
Andreas Windi Mbaku Rawa, 27, rests with his children Zigy Umbu Awat, nine months old, and Juan Oktovian Ana Kami, 5, at Atma La Kanatang, his parent's weaving house in Hamba Praing village.
Family members Arini Tenga Lunga, 9, Orvi Lensia Kareri Muni, 10, Juan Oktovian Ana Kami, 5, Dionisius Putal Kahali, 12, and Enjelia Cresensia Riana Ata Rambu, 12, play on a smartphone at the weaving house Atma La Kanatang.
Noti holds her nine-month-old grandson Zigy Umbu Awat.
Andreanus Talu Amah, 15, Thomas Tay Ranjawali's son, carries Zigy at their house in Hamba Praing village.
Noti pours water into jerrycans as she prepares dinner outside her home.
Stars shine over the weaving house Atma La Kanatang.
A solar panel sits on the roof of a traditional Sumbanese house in Wunga village.
Dembe Laka, 70, spreads betel nuts over graves, as a traditional act of offering as she and Noti visit Wunga village.
Sumbanese villagers work on a field seeding peanuts in Hamba Praing village.
Ersi Newa Pingga, 37, a teacher who also works on a field, displays peanuts that she seeded.
Kaita Hewa, 36, reacts during her father's Kanguma M. Njangga's funeral.
Sumbanese women dressed in traditional clothing, attend Kanguma M. Njangga's funeral in Hamba Praing village.
