A work in progress on a stationary loom.

Construction

A woman from Guatemala works on a backstrap loom, in Mesoamerican tradition.

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."^[2]

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.^[3]

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."^[4]

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.^[5]

Other symbolic uses

Traditionally, Oaxacan women wrap a red faja (a woven sash) around their waists as a protection from evil.^[6]

<gallery> Image:Calenda primer lunes 2005.JPG|Oaxacan women on parade in traditional apparel. Image:Telar y tapetes-Teotitlán del Valle-Oaxaca-Mexico.jpg|A hand weaving loom in Oaxaca. </gallery>

Notes

See also

• Weaving (mythology)
• Maya textiles