The Aos have a large variety of textiles used as wraparounds and shawls signifying gender, social status, marital status, and clan identity of the community as a whole. Earlier fabrics were woven in cotton, but now it is done with acrylic yarns.The women community body of Khensa village has documented 18 different varieties of textiles worn only in Khensa by the 7 clans who live there. Currently there are about 10 weavers in Khensa and the skills are not transmitted anymore. Of all the shawls worn by men, the warrior shawl, ‘tsüngkotepsü’ is the most gorgeous with many symbolic elements including animals and birds denoting courage, power, bravery, and wealth. The tiger signifies fierceness, the lion denotes the humility in kingliness, the elephant marks the strength and humility, Hornbill represents fame, mithuns reveal wealth of a man evidenced by the hosting of a mithun festival, the sun, moon and the stars represent the universal light of the days and nights. The body of the shawl woven in red and black stripes has a white panel in the middle containing these motifs. This white band used to be hand painted in the past but nowadays they are mostly woven. In the olden days it was worn by warriors who had successfully killed and collected the heads of their enemies. In modern times, it is worn only by the rich men who have sacrificed mithuns and have demonstrated wealth. A special shawl, ‘surem su’, was worn only by the rich families in the past as it used to be dyed in natural indigo. Natural indigo dyeing was a unique traditional skill specific to the Ao community which is now a lost tradition. Some women still own such indigo shawls which are part of their cherished heirloom. Apart from the traditional wear, some women also weave contemporary designs for local markets which can be worn by all women.