Though often called Karbi, the Mikirs are one of the indigenous ethnic groups living predominantly in the mountainous region of the district of Karbi Anglong, Assam, in India. Famous for their rich cultural heritage and craftsmanship traditions, the Mikir tribe has retained its age-old unique textile practices through the usage of locally available cotton and natural dyes to create everyday and ceremonial garments. One of these pieces is the black cotton cloth, a relatively simple but culturally significant piece of making textile art. The cloth has been mostly made from hand-woven coarse cotton and dyed in pitch-black color for symbolizing more often dignity, strength, and placing under earth connections. The body of this cloth is ornamented with thin white horizontal stripes running across, forming a very simple but elegant pattern. These white stripes are generally woven into the fabric while weaving, using bleached or undyed cotton threads; hence, the bold and intact design remains through normal use.

This is how this cloth is used in Mikirs: it acts as a wrapper, shawl, or upper body garment when worn during festivals and rituals or for everyday activities. Black and white are complementary colors because they represent cultural principles of balance and harmony, which are central in Mikir cosmology. The making of this fabric is indicative of the traditional textile history of the Mikir tribe as well as their close connection with nature and with expressing oneself through garments.