This is a story from the time when humans first walked the earth. In those days, they did not wear clothes, for they did not know how to weave.
One day, the god Matai decided to teach the art of weaving to one person. He chose a girl named Hambrumai. What designs did she weave? Sitting by the river, she saw the ripples and circles in the water and wove those patterns into cloth.
She spent days in the forest, gazing at the trees and the intricate designs of their branches. She saw patches of sky between the leaves and wove all these natural patterns—from trees, water, flowers, and leaves—into her fabric. When she wore the cloth she made, it was as if she were clothed in nature itself. She was beautiful, and many young men wished to marry her.
One day, Hairum the Porcupine came to her cave to steal her cloth. As he tried to enter, he dislodged a rock. The rock fell by the riverside, crushing Hambrumai and breaking the loom on which she wove.
Pieces of the loom fell into the river and were carried by the water from the hills to the plains. Wherever people found a piece of the loom, they learned to weave. The Mishimi people believe that the designs Hambrumai created turned into butterflies.
To this day, the patterns on butterflies' wings carry the girl's designs. And people remember Hambrumai as the girl who taught the world to weave.