Maya Mam Weavers
We are a group of Maya Mam women from the town of Cajolá in Guatemala. (Mam is one of the 21 different ethnic Maya groups in Guatemala.) For us Maya, weaving has been a way for thousands of years to express our identity, our love of beauty and to relay the wisdom of our ancestors. Our ancestors left an extraordinary legacy to us and to all of humanity -- a vision of the universe that allows us to know our place in that universe and that guides our lives in harmony with every other person’s purpose in life so that we all develop to our full potential.
Our group began when several of us came together to talk about common problems. We identified lack of income as our major need, and began to learn to weave (on a foot loom – many of us already weave on our traditional backstrap loom) and to sew on pedal sewing machines. Our goal is to create products inspired by our traditions -- weaving our ancient wisdom into our textiles, but now designed to share with the people of the U.S.
Mission: Inspired by our traditional weaving and cosmovision, we are creating products designed for the U.S. market. Each product includes a small teaching from our cosmovision. In this way we can continue the traditions of our ancestors as well as share their wisdom with others.
Location: Cajola, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Languages spoken: Spanish, English, Mam
Celebration Basket Liner, Handwoven by MayaMam Weavers
Tags: hand woven, handwoven, hand embroidered, backstrap loom, Fair Trade products, Mayan textiles, embroidered pillows
