These images are made in Amusgo and Mixtec indigenous villages in Oaxaca and Guerrero.
We visited families and village co-operatives who are working hard to revive ancient textile techniques and Oaxaca’s vast weaving culture that encompasses the use of natural dyes, back-strap loom weaving, drop spindle hand spinning, and pre-Hispanic native cotton in brown (coyuchi), green (verde) and creamy white. The cotton is hand spun using a ‘malacate’ and woven into lengths of cloth which are never cut, they are connected with intricate needlework to make garments such as ‘huipiles’ and ‘blusas’. Few vintage garments exist because they are buried with them.
Most often, it is the women who are able to earn a cash income to supplement the work the men do as subsistence farmers. The men all grow the same crops – corn, beans and squash so there is no selling opportunity unless they take their produce to a regional market. It is the women who pay for the education and health care of their children, grandchildren and aging parents.