Textiles of Oaxaca

The state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico has a noteworthy tradition of finely crafted textiles, particularly handmade embroidery and woven goods that frequently utilize a backstrap loom. Oaxaca is home to several different groups of indigenous peoples, each of which has a distinctive textile tradition.

Construction

Oaxacan fibers may be hand spun from cotton or locally cultivated silk. Traditional dye sources include "purpura pansa" among the Huave, Chontal, and Mixtec people. The Chontal and Mazatec also utilize cochineal to attain bright red tones. [Irmbard Weitlaner Johnson, “The Anatomy of a Textile Tradition” in "The Crafts of Mexico", Eds. Margarita de Orellana and Alberto Ruy-Sánchez, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 2004, p. 224.]

According to Alejandro de Ávila B., founding director of the Ethnobotanical Garden in Oaxaca, the region's biological diversity yields Mexico's greatest variety of fibers and dyes, and "the technical sophistication of Oaxaca's textiles is unparalelled in the country." [Alejandro de Ávila B., "Weavings that Protect the Soul" in "The Crafts of Mexico", Eds. Margarita de Orellana and Alberto Ruy-Sánchez, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 2004, p. 240.]

Traditional clothing items among the peoples of Oaxaca include the "huipil", a women's blouse constructed from several panels; the "ceñidor", a type of sash among the Mazatec; and the "paño", a Chinantec head covering. Handcrafted Oaxacan textiles employ plainweave, brocade patterns, gauze weave. [Johnson, pp. 224, 228-231.]

Motifs

Mexican textile expert Irmbard Weitlaner Johnson associates pre-Christian spiritual traditions with the presence of butterflies in Mazatec textile motifs. "To this day the Mazatecs identify the butterfly as the soul that leaves the body. They believe that the souls of the deceased have permission to come to this world once a year on All Saints' Day and the Day of the Dead to visit their family. This is the period when butterflies are most abundant in the area and the Mazatecs consider it a sin to kill them." [Johnson, p. 227.]

Regional motifs without specific spiritual meaning, or for which disputed interpretations exist, include a class of stepped fret known as "xicalcoliuhqui", which means "twisted ornament for decorating gourds" in the Nahuatl language; and the double spiral "ilhuitl", whose name translates as "fiesta day." Pre-Colonial tradition associates color with the four cardinal directions: yellow with east, red with north, blue and green with west, and white with south. Another shared motif among the region's indigenous peoples is a rectangular ornament below the neckline of the "huipil". No specific symbolism is known, but it is a frequent theme in pre-colonial codices and surviving historic textiles that remains in popular use. [Johnson, p. 227.]

Other symbolic uses

Traditionally, Oaxacan women wrap a red "faja" (a woven sash) around their waists as a protection from evil. [Johnson, p. 228]

Notes

ee also

*Weaving (mythology)
*Maya textiles