
The Dorze people of the Gamo highlands have woven Ethiopia's finest cotton for over 400 years. The Desta Cooperative brings together 85 weavers from 12 villages, producing the bamboo-fiber shamma and gabi garments worn at Ethiopian Orthodox ceremonies. Their tibeb border patterns are registered with the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office as traditional cultural expressions. Each weaver works on a pit loom dug into the hillside β a technique unique to the Dorze.