Tag Archives: Oaxaca

Pilgrimage to San Pablo Tijaltepec, Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca

The map says it’s just under five hours from Oaxaca City to the remote Mixtec village of San Pablo Tijaltepec. For those of us who traveled there last Sunday on our Mixteca Alta textile study tour, it seemed more like many more hours and a world far, far away. We were based in Tlaxiaco (Tla-hee-ah-koh), the administrative district headquarters for the Mixtec nation, which extends from the highlands to the Pacific coast. To get from there to Tijaltepec, we traveled more than two hours going up, down, across and through spectacular countryside dotted with pine forests along winding mountain roads where we climbed to 7,425 feet to reach the town of 2,750 people where 91% speak Mixtec, one of Oaxaca’s sixteen different language groups.

The village was an important one for us to visit on our textile and cultural tour because of the amazing smocking (called pepenado) that adorns blouses and dresses made there. I have been enamored of and collected these textiles for years because of their whimsical iconic designs of deer and rabbits that are featured on the bodices.

On this visit we also saw images of birds, ducks, turkeys, jaguars, and people. The smocking is all done by hand and it takes women artisans months to create one blouse. The work is apportioned by interest and skill. One person will make the smocked bodice designs. Another will make the smocked sleeves. Another will add very detailed embroidery around the neckline. Finally, one will assemble and will sew the garment together.

We will offer this Mixteca Alta Textile Study Tour, March 12-17, 2025. Send us an email to find out more!

We discovered Kintex Gonzalez Garcia in November 2023 when we attended Original in Mexico City. Original is an expoventa organized by the Mexican Secretary of Tourism under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) to promote indigenous makers throughout the country. Over 1,000 artisans were invited to participate and were supported by the federal government. Over sixty-percent were textile makers. We identified Kintex Gonzalez Garcia by their quality, originality, and complexity. Since we knew were were traveling to Tijaltepec, we reached out to them to arrange to bring our group of fifteen travelers there. This is the first time they welcomed a large group!

They know this is not an easy journey to make and they are isolated. They so appreciated that we came to visit.

Their story is remarkable. Twenty-three years ago Natividad Garcia Silva, head of the cooperative, who learned to weave from her mother at eight, and her husband Geronimo Gonzalez, traveled to Santa Maria, California to live the American Dream. One of eighteen children, she was age 16 at the time. Natividad harvested grapes, strawberries and oranges. They stayed for ten years, cooking, cleaning, gardening, working construction. Their eldest daughter Maria de Jesus, now age twenty-two, was born there. What they found was struggle and difficulty making ends meet.

Thirteen years ago they decided to return to their home town and make a go of designing and sewing the smocked blouses the village has become so well known for. They named their cooperative Kintex, the name of Geronimo’s great grandmother.

One of their daughters went to university in Mexico City and graduated as a civil engineer. She began making contact with the Ministry of Culture and this is how Kintex was invited to participate in Original. Since this is a Usos y Costumbres village, they had to get approval from their community’s president to travel to Mexico City to participate. In traditional villages like this, most do not want to share their weaving and embroidery with outsiders.

Finding markets has been tough. Only lately, have they been able to sell beyond local consumption. Natividad and Germonimo both say there is a lot of need. Single moms and widows survive by selling their textiles and have an income. They both say, We like it that others wear what we make and it says that they value our work. Now, people know where these designs come from!

Social media is their main outlet for selling. They have both a Facebook and Instagram page that Geronimo manages and that their son-in-law, Maria de Jesus’ husband, takes videos for.

The women in the cooperative joined together to prepare lunch for us — pozole (hominy) with locally raised guajalote (turkey), accompanied by homemade tortillas and agua de jamaica (hibiscus drink). We all said it was the best we had ever tasted, anywhere! Natividad insisted on gifting us with this meal because we had traveled so far to visit them. After everyone had left the dining room, I asked her to sit next to me, to look at me, woman to woman, face to face. I explained that it was only fair and just to thank her with a payment for the food they prepared. That it took time, effort, and resources. I took her hand and put a wad of pesos in her palm. She began to cry, confessing this had been a difficult year for them, and we cried together and then hugged.

This is why we do what we do, this is why travelers appreciate coming with us. Because we care about the people who do so much for us, and we in turn, have an opportunity to do for them. This is not about giving a hand-out. It is about cultural appreciation on the most intimate, personal level.

And, of course, we all supported the cooperative with our purchases. It was an amazing day.

We will offer this Mixteca Alta Textile Study Tour, March 12-17, 2025. Send us an email to find out more!

Thanks to Donna Davis, Charlie Dell, Emily Behzadi, Joyce Howell, and Federico Chavez Sosa for providing some of the photos for this blog post!

Drought Hits Mexico Hard, Including Oaxaca

I’m reposting this from The Mezcalistas team and Susan Coss, who is a mezcal educator and runs Mezcal in a Bottle throughout the USA. She operates out of the Bay Area of Northern California. There is water urgency here in Oaxaca, where many of us buy water for drinking and household use. We are alarmed and concerned for locals and foreigners alike. The cost of water has tripled as the aquafer has dried up and wells are no longer providing for our basic needs. I’m showering no more than twice a week and wash my hair maybe once a week. When I do, it’s a dribble. I conserve water at the sink by running the water at a trickle. Visitors need to heed all precautions for water conservation!

It rained last night in Teotitlan del Valle. I sat under the corridor, the sheltered part of my patio, in celebration of the forty-minute downpour. But it’s a drop in the bucket.

Please read to understand what is going on here!

From The Mezcalistas

If we needed a reminder about how serious the drought is in Mexico, we got a strong one in the form of the forest fires that have impacted the state of Oaxaca. While the one that came dangerously close to Santiago Matatlan has been fully contained, five lives were lost fighting the fire. About 75% of Mexico is suffering from a drought. The past two rainy seasons have been lackluster and communities are running out of water – even Mexico City is not immune. While droughts are not uncommon, the frequency and severity of them is only increasing with global climate change. There are the short term solutions of providing immediate support and relief, but clearly longer term solutions are required. We cannot be reliant on a good rainy season to replenish rivers, wells and aquifers and must take a long range view to help mitigate times when there are droughts, which fuel devastating forest fires.

We in the mezcal community must ask ourselves and others what we can do. Like everything mezcal related, this is a complicated and layered question. On average it takes 10 liters of water to make one liter of mezcal. Almost  72.3 million liters of water were used to make the amount of mezcal exported to the US in 2023. What can be done to use less water in the production? And what can be done with the 72.3 million liters of viñaza that were created from that same production – what solutions can be implemented to safely return that dirty water to the rivers and aquifers?

But it isn’t just about water usage. It’s also about forest management (and deforestation) and how agave is cultivated and how it could be grown differently to capture more water for the ground. It’s about the responsibility both brands and producers have to the communities where they do business. It’s about the government policies that encourage mezcal production but don’t mitigate its impacts.  

And finally it’s about the decisions we make as consumers when we buy mezcal. We all can and should do better and we are planning continued coverage on these important issues. Be sure to check out the stories below. We have a terrific profile on Chacolo from new contributor Felisa Rogers. The Partida family has been making “vino de mezcal” in southern Jalisco, which some consider the birthplace of mezcal, for five generations. In this profile, Felisa shows not only the tradition of the family, but also how their sustainability measures could be a path forward for the category. Also be sure to check out a perfect pairing with the new Legendario Domingo expression from San Luis Potosi, new tasting notes, a new mezcal math post and links to various mezcal events happening in the coming months.

Saludos, Susan and the Mezcalistas Team

In the Triqui Village of Chicahuaxtla, Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca

Our friend Shuko Clouse captures the essential emotion and experience of being in the Triqui village of San Andres Chicahuaxtla in the Mixteca Alta as she traveled with us this past weekend on a textile exploration seven hours beyond the city of Oaxaca. She writes a blog called Our Universe that is part of her Mano del Sur folk art site.

I encourage you to read it. It is a heartfelt expression for the Mixtec people, the textiles they make and the meaning in the cloth.

https://manodelsur.com/blog/our-universe/

The Mixteca Alta is characterized by eight thousand foot mountain ranges, pine forests, winding roads, and remote villages where women create traditional textiles on back strap looms. Here subsistence farming — raising corn, squash and beans — is the work of men, who have difficulty making enough money to sustain their families. This region has one of the highest rates of people in Mexico who migrate to the United States in search of employment. Many women are left to carve out a living to support their children alone in dire economic conditions.

Yet, the textiles they create are stunning examples of cultural heritage, pride, and commitment to their people. It takes as long as one year to weave this complex huipil that is symbolic of the Triqui people.

Here are a few photos to tempt you to come with us March 12-18, 2025. Write to tell us you are interested in participating.

Note: We are educators who guide you into villages to introduce you to the people with whom we have relationships. We give you cultural context and insights into not only the meaning behind the textiles, but identity, language, economics and way of life. Come with us to go deep, not wide.

The original Triqui huipil design was white and blue and dates back to 1875-1890. The red and white and multi-colors came after the Industrial Revolution with the introduction of synthetic dyes. The counting of threads today is exactly like they were then, made with hand-spun cotton.

We visit with Otelia and Yatali in their home and weaving workshop high up the mountain in a remote region where tourists rarely go. They have researched ancient designs and incorporate them into their cloth. Yatali went to Mexico City to study for a masters degree in textile engineering. She came back to her village because she has a deep attachment to her culture, is an innovator, and has continued the family tradition of being a textile activist. They have a small cooperative that is making marketable pieces like shawls, napkins, tablecloths, and throws for collectors and appreciators of their cloth.

They are also experimenting with natural dyes and are using Brazil wood, indigo, wood bark, and wild marigold to create a softer color palette.

Threads of Connection in Oaxaca + Chiapas: Norma Presents at OLL, Tuesday, March 5

This Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. I will be making a presentation at the Oaxaca Lending Library titled Threads of Connection in Oaxaca and Chiapas: Meeting Artisans Where They Live and Work. If you live here or are visiting, I invite you to join us. Contact the OLL website to register.

During the talk, I’ll be comparing two weaving villages, San Juan Colorado, Oaxaca, on the Pacific Coast, and San Pedro Chenalho, Chiapas, in the highlands above San Cristobal de las Casas. The talk includes weaving style, culture, women’s issues, advocacy and human rights, and the cooperative systems in which they organize themselves.

Many of you know that Oaxaca and Chiapas are the two poorest Mexican states, with Chiapas coming in last in terms of access to education, health care, and economic opportunity. Yet, both give us the most extraordinary handwoven textiles in the entire country. We will talk about why.

We will also discuss the knotty issues surrounding the topic of cultural appropriation, the perspective of artisans who must reach markets to sell their work, and what we as supporters and collectors can do to help alleviate poverty, injustice and support the continuation of centuries old textile traditions.

I hope you can join us.

Weaving from San Juan Colorado, Oaxaca

Weaving from San Pedro Chenalho, Chiapas

2025 Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour

Arrive on Saturday, January 11 and depart on Sunday, January 19, 2025 — 8 nights, 9 days in textile heaven!

This tour will not be offered in 2026!

We go deep, and not wide. We give you an intimate, connecting experience. We spend time to know the culture. You will meet artisans in their homes and workshops, enjoy local cuisine, dip your hands in an indigo dye-bath, and travel to remote villages you may never get to on your own. This study tour focuses on revival of 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 glorious, pre-Hispanic native cotton in warm brown called coyuchi, verde (green) and creamy white. We cover vast distances going north on MEX 200 along the Costa Chica, traveling to secluded mountain villages. This tour is for the most adventurous, hardy textile travelers!

At Oaxaca Cultural Navigator, we aim to give you an unparalleled and in-depth travel experience to participate and delve deeply into indigenous culture, folk art and celebrations. To register, please complete the Registration Form and email it to us. When you tell us you are ready to register, we will send you a request to make your reservation deposit.

Cost is $3,895 per person shared room or $4,795 per person for private room. See details and itinerary below.

Please complete this Registration Form and return to Norma Schafer to participate. Thank you.

Jennie Henderson says …

My husband and I just finished this years tour it was fantastic. This trip is an incredible once in a life time opportunity to go where the tourists never go and learn about native cotton being grown, spun and woven. A real highlight of the trip is dinner on the beach with the turtle release and a swim in the   bioluminescence lagoon. This trip is a true weavers delight.

This entire study tour is focused on exploring the textiles of Oaxaca’s Costa Chica. You arrive to and leave from Puerto Escondido (PXM), connecting through Mexico City or Oaxaca. You might like to read about on the Oaxaca coast, it’s about the cloth, not the cut.

Villages along the coast and neighboring mountains were able to preserve their traditional weaving culture because of their isolation. The Spanish could not get into those villages until the late 18th century. Much now is the same as it was then. Stunning cotton is spun and woven into lengths of cloth connected with intricate needlework to form amazing garments. Beauty and poverty are twin sisters here.

What we do:

  • We visit 7 weaving villages in Oaxaca and Guerrero
  • We meet back-strap loom weavers, natural dyers, spinners
  • We see, touch, smell native Oaxaca cotton — brown, green, natural
  • We participate in a sea turtle release with sunset dinner on the beach
  • We swim in a rare bioluminescence lagoon
  • We visit three local markets to experience daily life
  • We travel to remote regions to discover amazing cloth
  • We learn about Afro-Mestizo identity on the Pacific Coast
  • We support indigenous artisans directly
  • We escape from El Norte WINTER

Take this study tour to learn about:

  • the culture, history, and identity of cloth
  • beating and spinning cotton, and weaving with natural dyes
  • native seed preservation and cultivation
  • clothing design and construction, fashion adaptations
  • symbols and meaning of regional textile designs
  • choice of colors and fibers that show each woman’s aesthetic while keeping with a particular village traje or costume
  • the work of women in pre-Hispanic Mexico and today

PRELIMINARY  ITINERARY

  • Saturday, January 11: Fly to Puerto Escondido—overnight in Puerto Escondido, Group Welcome Dinner at 6:00 p.m. Meals included: Dinner
  • Sunday, January 12: Puerto Escondido market meander (optional). Lunch and afternoon on your own. Late afternoon departure for turtle release and Manialtepec bioluminescence lagoon with beach dinner.  Overnight in Puerto Escondido. Meals included: Breakfast and dinner
  • Monday, January 13: Depart after breakfast for Tututepec to visit a young Mixtec weaver who is reviving his village’s textile traditions, visit local museum and murals. We will enjoy a home-cooked meal with a regional mole dish prepared by the family. Travel by van several hours north to Ometepec, Guerrero. Overnight in Ometepec. Meals included: Breakfast and lunch.
  • Tuesday, January 14: After breakfast, we go to Zacoalpan, a bygone Amusgo village where Jesus Ignacio and his family weave native coyuchi, green and natural white cotton to make traditional huipiles. They are rescuing designs from fragments of ancient cloth. Then, we have lunch in nearby Xochistlahuaca with an outstanding weaving cooperative that creates glorious, diaphanous textiles embellished with a palette of colorful designs reflecting the flora of the region. Overnight in Ometepec.
  • Wednesday, January 15: After breakfast, we visit downtown Ometepec and the regional market, then make a stop at the Afro-Mexican Museum to learn about the rich cultural history and traditions of the region populated by Mexicans whose roots are from Africa and the slave trade. We continue to Pinotepa Nacional for a late lunch and to check into our hotel. Enjoy an expoventa and demonstration with embroiderers. Overnight in Pinotepa Nacional. Meals included: Breakfast and lunch.
  • Thursday, January 16:  After breakfast, we explore the Pinotepa Nacional market, the largest in the region, where you may find hand-woven agave fiber tote bags, masks, textiles, and embroidered collars, as well as household goods and food. Then, we travel about an hour to the weaving village of San Juan Colorado for a home cooked lunch and visit two women’s cooperatives working in natural dyes, hand-spinning, and back strap loom weaving. Overnight in Pinotepa Nacional.  Meals included: Breakfast and lunch.
  • Friday, January 17: After breakfast, we travel back up the mountain to the village of Pinotepa de Don Luis to meet noted weavers who work with naturally dyed cotton. Here, we will see jicara gourd carvers, too, who make jewelry and serving containers. We have lunch with Tixinda Cooperative members who are licensed to harvest the purple snail dye. In this village, the almost extinct caracol purpura snail is the traditional color accent for many textiles. Overnight in Pinotepa Nacional. Meals included: Breakfast and lunch.
  • Saturday, January 18: After breakfast, we begin our return to Puerto Escondido, a two-and-a-half-hour van ride. The rest of the day is on your own to explore, relax and pack. Lunch is on your own. We meet at 6 p.m. for our Grand Finale Dinner. Overnight in Puerto Escondido. Meals included: Breakfast and dinner.
  • Sunday, January 19: Depart for home. Meals included: None.

Note: You can add days on to the tour — arrive early or stay later to enjoy the beach and two swimming pools — at your own expense. We also suggest you arrive a day early (your own hotel expense) to avoid any unforeseen winter flight delays.

Cost to Participate

  • $3,895 shared double room with private bath (sleeps 2)
  • $4,795 for a single supplement (private room and bath, sleeps 1)

Your Oaxaca Cultural Navigator: Eric Chavez Santiago

Eric Chavez Santiago is the Oaxaca Cultural Navigator partner with Norma Schafer. He joined us in 2022.  Eric is an expert in Oaxaca and Mexican textiles and folk art with a special interest in artisan development and promotion. He is a weaver and natural dyer by training and a fourth-generation member of a distinguished weaving family, the Fe y Lola textile group. He and his wife Elsa Sanchez Diaz started Taller Teñido a Mano dye studio where they produce naturally dyed yarn skeins and textiles for worldwide distribution. He is trilingual, speaking Zapotec, Spanish and English and is a native of Teotitlan del Valle. He is a graduate of Anahuac University, founder of the Museo Textil de Oaxaca education department, and former managing director of the Harp Helu Foundation folk-art gallery Andares del Arte Popular. He has intimate knowledge of local traditions, culture, and community and personally knows all the artisans we visit on this tour.

Oaxaca Cultural Navigator Founder Norma Schafer may participate in all or part of this tour.

We have invited a noted cultural anthropologist to travel with us. She did her thesis in a nearby textile village and has worked in the region for the past 15 years. She knows the textile culture and people intimately, too. Together, we learn about and discuss motifs, lifestyle, endangered species, quality, and value of direct support.

We sell out each year so don’t hesitate to make your registration deposit ASAP if you are interested in participating.

Some Vocabulary and Terms

Who Should Attend

  • Explorers of indigenous cloth, native fibers
  • Collectors, curators, and cultural appreciators
  • Textile and fashion designers
  • Retailers, wholesalers, buyers
  • Weavers, embroiderers, dyers, and sewists
  • Photographers and artists who want inspiration
  • Anyone who loves cloth, culture, and collaboration

Full Registration Policies, Procedures and Cancellations– Please READ

Reservations and Cancellations.  A $750 non-refundable deposit is required to guarantee your place. The balance is due in two equal payments. The second payment of 50% of the balance is due on or before July 1, 2024. The third payment, 50% balance, is due on or before November 1, 2024. We accept payment using a Zelle transfer (no service fee), or with a credit card (4% service fee). For the credit card payment, we will send you a Square invoice. Tell us when you are ready to register.

After November 1, 2024, there are no refunds. If you cancel on or before November 1, 2024, we will refund 50% of your deposit received to date (less the $750 non-refundable deposit). After that, there are no refunds UNLESS we cancel for any reason. If we cancel, you will receive a full 100% refund.*

Required–Travel Health/Accident Insurance: We require that you carry international accident/health insurance that includes $50,000+ of emergency medical evacuation insurance. Check out Forbes Magazine for best travel insurance options. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/travel-insurance/best-travel-insurance/

Proof of insurance must be sent at least 45 days before departure.

About COVID. Covid is still with us and new variants continue to arise. We request proof of latest COVID-19 vaccination and all boosters to be sent 45 days before departure. We ask that you bring two test kits with you and several N-95 or KN-95 face masks. Face masks are strongly suggested for van travel, densely populated market visits, and artisan visits that are held indoors. We ask this to keep all travelers safe, and to protect indigenous populations who are at higher risk. If you get sick, we will ask you to withdraw from the tour.

Be certain your passport has at least six months on it before it expires from the date you enter Mexico! It’s a Mexico requirement.