Women weaving in Chiapas, Mexico

KBN was lucky enough to be asked to host a talk and weaving demo. Celia Santíz & Marla Gutierrez speaking on behalf of Indigenous Women's Fair Trade Weaving Cooperative Jolom Maya’etik and Women’s Organization K’inal Antzetik from Chiapas, Mexico. Celia (in the pictures) is the president of the collective and has been traveling around North America to find out what people are interested in. The sales have been declining the past while. It has been a full week since the event and it is amazing how my memory does not do well. I may be wrong, but I believe that they have been in establishment since 1996 and are made of 180 women. The work they sell through the collective adds to their household income and it is done primarily by women only.

In one area, the women work mostly with wool, raising their own sheep and working with the wool and dye with natural dyes that they harvest at certain times of the year. In other areas women predominately buy cotton and weave with it.
The patterns are taught at a young age and passed on from generation, Celia was weaving without any charts, going purely from her memory.
I found what looks like a good site on how to make your own back strap loom. Let me know if you try making one! I hope to make one this summer....