Meet The Women Keeping A 2,000-Year-Old Indigenous Craft Alive In Guatemala | Still Standing

this ancient tie-dying technique starts with tons of tiny nuts and it's part of a month-long process to make just one scarf indigenous mayan weavers have been using these techniques for over 2000 years and in guatemala groups of women have banded together to preserve this part of their heritage after a decades-long civil war threatened their culture we visited san juan la laguna to see how these groups are still standing normally these weavers work in their own homes but they came together to show us each step of their process dominga isabel coche uh has been doing this since she was a little girl [Music] it all starts with the raw cotton that grows right here in san juan dominga picks out the seeds one by one then she flattens the cotton tengo que golpiarlo por cinco minutos para chiasi elilo sale dominga uses a stick called the malacate to pull the cotton into a thread it takes four days of spinning to make half a pound natural dying is another ancient technique they practice here dominga is straining boiled banana plant stalks to give the threads a lilac color she dips them into the purple dye and then washes them out before letting them hang to dry all the dyes here come from nature the weavers say some shades are even affected by the phases of the moon cuando luna yena nos dan color algo palido pero cuando noi luna yena dal color indigo negro next domingo measures and counts the threads in a process called warping it takes hours to layer all the strings onto the warp board dominga has to know exactly what she wants the final piece to look like so she can sort the strings accordingly this process is typically a woman's job weaving in general has been passed down from mother to daughter for centuries in indigenous communities dominga learned from her mother when she was just 12 years old mayan legend has it that women in ancient times learned to weave from the goddess icho who was often depicted with a backstrap loom it's the same one these weavers work with today [Music] and it's ideal for weavers like maria cristina garcia gonzalez who needs to work at home while taking care of the kids [Music] she can set it up almost anywhere and the shape of the loom makes it easy for women to weave while pregnant [Music] christina learned the craft from her mother-in-law right after getting married she uses her body weight to control the tension of the loom now she takes inspiration for her designs from nature and how she's feeling is woven textiles carry a deep symbolism for mayan people throughout guatemala but wearing this traditional clothing became dangerous during the 36-year civil war between government military forces and leftist rebel groups the conflict is now considered a genocide two hundred thousand guatemalans were killed and most of them were indigenous women were victims of sexual violence and lost their fathers and husbands in the fight the war ended in 1996 but many indigenous women still face discrimination today weaving became a way for them to show strength women across the country came together to form groups just like this one in san juan porque muchas mujeres today it's rare to see younger men in traditional dress but women here wear it as a symbol of pride and to honor their ancestors it's not just women in the fight yonotan abinoel perez mendoza works with the weavers group too normal aquilos hombres casinos [Music] an ancient technique only a handful of weavers in this group know how to do he starts by separating white threads into groups then he secures the strings between two pillars he needs about 10 feet of space for this part okay little by little he begins tying knots to form a design it's a lot like tie dyeing the threads underneath the knots will resist the dye while the exposed parts will absorb today he's making guatemala's national bird yanatan spends up to five hours just time and that can be tough on the hands are dyed the tide parts stay completely white then other women in the group weave jonathan's dyed hospi threads into shawls like this one which sell for 500 quetzales or sixty five dollars each person is tourists are their main customers but many are looking for a bargain so it's hard for weavers to get a fair price for their work and sometimes they have to sell it for cheap to locals who resell it estamos buscando [Music] that's why they partnered with drama textiles in 2016. the organization buys products from over 400 weavers across guatemala and sells them online to people around the world eso is [Music] and the weavers can name their price instead of selling a scarf for ten dollars to middlemen they can get sixteen dollars from drama but the organization is still hurting from the pandemic and sales have been low drama can't buy any more products from christina's group until it sells off its current stock and christina says it's been three months without a sale to make ends meet she's been working as a housekeeper [Applause] still christina is determined to make a name for the weavers of san juan product san juan laguna [Music] alto terminal [Music]

Channel: Business Insider

Views: 1,109,784

Keywords: Business Insider, Business News, Still Standing, Mayan Weavers, Weavers, Art, Crafts, Handmade, Guatemala

Id: l7_U0ZBRTsw

Length: 10min 22sec (622 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 06 2021