Oaxacan magic

Sunday morning, our friend Kristin, from college, who has been living in Oaxaca for 4 months, invited us to join her on a visit a women´s weaving cooperative in a nearby pueblo, Teotitlan del Valle. We took two buses out to the town, made our way through the stalls filed with woven shirts, rugs, wallhangings, and headbands, turned onto a residential street, and knocked on the first door, unmarked by any sign. Inside was the compound of a remarkable family of three generations, anchored by an 86 year old grandmother, her daughter, and her five granddaughters. All of them are weavers, although all have to work other jobs as well. The flower-filled compound contains at least three large looms, a cactus for growing the bugs that make the red colored dyes, stocks of uncarded wool and endless reams of yarn dyed, with bug and indigo and lichen, vinegar and lemon and ash, an astonishing range of colors. On the wall is a poster, a gift from a cooperative in Oregon, against domestic violence.

Pastora is the oldest sister. Ten years ago, she started the women´s cooperative, called La Vida Nueva. One conversation with her is enough to sense the passion that courses through her. The family invited us to join them for a meal. During this, Pastora left her food sitting for much of the time, as she poured forth her thoughts on Zapoteca culture, on the recent election, on the war in Iraq, on the teachers´ strike, on the struggles of workers-- her speech ended with applause and a call for her to run for president. All of this energy shows itself in the weavings that she and the other members of the cooperative make. Some follow completely traditional Zapoteca designs, filled with symbolism that has stayed relevant for thousands of years. Others, like our favorite, Pastora´s design of La Mujer de la Maiz, are her own and others´variations on ancient themes. Two days after visting for the first time, we returned to Teotitlan to place an order for our own Mujer de la Maiz.