Nung women in Kham Kheo dying indigo fabrics and weaving to create many unique traditional costumes.

It takes many stages to dye a piece of fabric from pure white to indigo. From June, Nung women start harvesting indigo leaves. Then they soak, squeeze indigo leaves and mix the liquid with lime during 2 months. Next, fabric soaked in indigo water for about 2 weeks will achieve results.

Now, indigo cloth is sold at the fairs, but the Nung do not like to use it. They believe that, if they do not dye the fabric, embroider the patterns on each head scarf or each shirt by themselves, they are no longer Nung women. Therefore, every Nung women in Kham Kheo know how to dye and sew clothes.

To prevent the indigo trees from being lost due to overexploiting, the Nung people in Kham Kheo plant them around the house and streams. When the indigo season comes, they harvest leaves while sow seeds and nurse plants at the end of the season.