The Foot Loom Weavers

Although most of us know how to weave on the backstrap loom, the first thing we did was learn to weave on the foot loom.  We shared one loom while we were learning. In fact, we learned so well we were able to use our very first fabric in the very first product we sold --these pink  cosmetics bags. Then  we added three looms, and  later another two. So, today we have six looms. Five of us weave full time, taking turns on each of the looms. We like to learn new designs, and have learned some more complicated designs using 4 pedals. Some of the fabrics we weave are simple, while others are more complicated, so it is nice to have the chance to take turns working on each of the different fabrics. The sixth loom is shared by three of the backstrap loom weavers who recently learned to weave on the foot looms and now split their time between weaving with the backstrap and weaving on the foot loom.

We weave with 100% cotton yarn that we buy from a shop in the town of Salcaja. We work closely with the owner, who does her own dyeing, to be sure the yarns are colorfast and true. She sells us the yarn already wound on plastic tubes so we don't have to spend time winding the yarn ourselves.  One day we dream of learning to dye our own yarns as well.

You can see on the photo of the cosmetics bag a hand embroidered symbol from our cosmovision. Quatrefoil flowers represent  portals to the other world. We Maya believe in a simultaneous  natural and supernatural worlds.

The Backstrap Loom Weavers

MayaMam Weavers has three different groups: backstrap weavers, foot loom weavers, and seamstresses. Nearly everyone takes turns embroidering our Maya symbols by hand.

Backstrap weaving is the traditional Maya  weaving, passed on to us by our ancestors. Although the  loom is simple -- made from sticks, rope and a strap fastened behind our backs --  we are capable of weaving elaborate designs. You can see these designs on the blouses worn by Maya women, which are  called "huipils". The "warp" or length of our weaving is attached to a post or tree that is high off the ground. We use the sticks to create the spaces for the "weft" or cross weaves. We weave intricate designs using a technique called "brocade" which is woven somewhat like an embroidery on top of the base weaving. The designs we use in our work come from our collective memory. They are handed down to us from our mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers. The designs symbolize aspects of our cosmovision, helping us to maintain that worldview as well as pass it along to our children and grandchildren. Each community of Maya people has their own designs and symbols though there are certainly many similarities across the entire Maya people.

Here you can see a sample of our work. We are weaving sets of placemats, using the brocade technique for the "embroidery" across the center.

Introducing MayaMam Weavers

We are a group of Maya Mam women from the town of Cajolá in Guatemala. (The Mam people are the oldest of the Maya, and the second largest group of Maya today in Guatemala.) For us Maya, weaving has been a way for thousands of years to express our identity and 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.