Vida Nueva: A Zapotec Women's Weaving Cooperative

This weekend we traveled to Teotitlan del Valle, the people in this area are known for their beautiful tapestries and woven textiles, made with all natural dyes. I have seen many of these tapestries sold in the Centro, so it was really cool to learn the history behind the designs and meet the ancestors of the people who created them.  In the past, the weavers of Teotitlan would sell their tapestries and smaller weavings to large corporations in Oaxaca City, who would sell the tapestries in the market, but only give a portion of the sale to the weavers. As technology advanced, and Teotitlan was less cut off from the market economy they realized they were being swindled, and several families began starting cooperatives in which they would share supplies and profit.

My class and I were fortunate enough to be hosted by one of these cooperatives. Vida Nueva, a Zapotec¹ women’s weaving cooperative has a very rich history and an interesting story that one of the women was able to recount us with during our time their. The cooperative was started around twenty years ago by some of the widowed older women in their community who needed to support themselves. This was controversial at the time because twenty years ago in rural Mexico a women’s place was inside the home. Everyone in a weaving family plays a role, but men were responsible for handling accounts outside the home such as negotiating sales to vendors. However the women who started the cooperative took the initiative to try and determine if their interests could be better served. At first it was just a few older women discussing the weaving politics together once or twice a week without any type of formal organization, but after a few meetings they decided to get organized and get patent rights to increase their profit from sales.

Overview of the main area of Vida Nueva

I was blow away learning about the entrepreneurship and quite frankly gall of these ladies in a time where women in their position didn’t have a voice. I’m not the only one intrigued by their movement. Lynn Stephen a professor of Anthropology at the University of Oregon wrote the book Zapotec Women: Gender, Class, and Ethnicity in Globalized Oaxaca in which she discusses about how the cooperative has strived to “gain political and cultural rights within their community and standing as independent artisans within the global market.”

Spools of dyed wool drying

After a delicious lunch of Mole² Negro with chicken and rice, the women were kind enough to show us how they make their natural dyes. Essentially wool ranges from white to grayish, and depending on the wool color, when dye is added different colors can be produced.  Aforementioned all the dyes are natural. They use indigo for blue, and different kinds of nuts for brown, but red is interesting. They use cochineal, which is a little white bug that lives on cacti. When the bug is crushed it produces this brilliant fine red powder. The weavers can change the intensity of the dye by allowing colors to sit longer in water, and can add lemon juice or other additives to change the color altogether. 

The natural dye materials

Cochineal bugs attached to cactus

One of the women showing us how the weaving
machine works.

Sample of the changes that can occur when lemon
 juice or charcoalis added to red cochineal dye.

I had a great time in Teotitlan, and I learned so much about the women at Vida Nueva. I think my biggest take away though, is that the world needs to do a better job of supporting global artisans especially in Central and South America. As the world becomes increasingly more connected, it is easier for designs to be copied, and sold by people who did not create them for profit. Looking forward I think it is important to be more aware of where things come from when we make purchases in order to allow local Oaxacan artisans the ability to continue their tradition.

My class and some of the women in Vida Nueva

¹Zapotecs are one of the three indigenous Natives of Oaxaca (pre-Spanish colonization).

²Mole is this thick sauce that is indigenous to Oaxaca. There are seven. Negro, Rojo, Verde , Coloradito, Amarillo, Chichilo, Manchamantel. Mole negro is made with cacao, so it tastes a little like chocolate. It sounds weird that it is eaten with chicken and rice, but somehow it works for me at least!

My favorite tapestry

A sample of some of the weavings