By Ellie Chase
Guatemala’s Casa Flor Ixcaco Weaving Cooperative supports women through traditional textiles, financial independence and access to education.
Group of Guatemalan women involved in the Casa Flor Ixcaco Weaving Cooperative. Provided by Casa Flor Ixcaco.
Whisked from the docks of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, through the back alleys of San Juan La Laguna, I was thrust into a sunlit workshop adorned with looms and brightly colored threads. Guatemalan women dressed in traditional Mayan attire were weaving hand-dyed cotton thread into unimaginably complicated and beautiful textiles with ease. Travelers like myself flocked to purchase a scarf, pillow or rug as the perfect souvenir of Guatemalan culture.
But each piece means so much more than a frivolous memento, instead, it represents a business of women’s empowerment and a declaration that the future of Guatemala’s textile tradition rests in the hands of the women who weave it.
Weaving has always been a part of Guatemalan culture. Traditionally, Mayan women wove textiles while taking care of the children and tending to the household. Their finished products would then be sold by their husbands, and women would have little to no control over the income generated from their work. Having no access to paid job positions or profits from their own creations restricted Guatemalan women to traditional roles in the home for centuries.
Women’s cooperatives are changing that. Textile organizations are growing across Guatemala, with the intent of preserving ancestral tradition while also growing opportunities and financial independence for the women who make the industry possible.
While visiting Lake Atitlan, I visited the Casa Flor Ixcaco Weaving Cooperative. Made up of 34 local Mayan women, the organization was started with the goal of improving the quality of life for their community and families. Slightly off the beaten path in San Juan, the female leaders have found an incredible balance between serving their community and weavers while also engaging visitors in their work process and mission. After arriving in their workshop, visitors are given a detailed demonstration of their traditional techniques in material development and weaving strategies.
Traditional loom used at Casa Flor Ixcaco Weaving Cooperative. Provided by Casa Flor Ixcaco.
This group of women begins by growing their own organic cotton in four native colors: white, kakhi (beige), ixcaco (deep brown) and green. After harvesting the cotton, they make their own natural dyes using seeds, leaves and flowers, remaining environmentally conscious while upholding traditional customs. Using ancestral techniques, the artists hand-spin the raw cotton into thread.
Once enough thread has been created in the desired colors, the women use a traditional backstrap loom to hand-weave every single piece. Every product sold directly benefits the woman who created it, directing all profits to the individual artisan. The cooperative also sets aside a percentage of the profit for savings and retirement accounts for each woman, encouraging strong money management and financial autonomy.
Making their own money has allowed these women to dedicate more time to their craft and explore alternative opportunities in education and career growth. The woman who provided a demonstration to my group held a leadership position in the cooperative, was university-educated and spoke an impressive five languages. Speaking English, Spanish and three Mayan dialects, she split her time between working as a teacher at a local school and weaving with the cooperative, dedicating her talents to preserving her culture.
Aura Temo, one of Casa Flor Ixcaco’s weavers, has been weaving since she was 7 years old. Provided by Casa Flor Ixcaco.
It is women like her and organizations such as this that are reshaping the narrative for Guatemalan women. Their ability to advance women’s access to education and financial autonomy while simultaneously maintaining and respecting Mayan cultural traditions is inspiring. Casa Flor Ixcaco and other women’s weaving cooperatives truly make up an invaluable part of Lake Atitlan’s artisan identity and are critical for the journey toward women’s empowerment.
GET INVOLVED:
You can support Casa Flor Ixcaco’s artisans by purchasing their products through their online shop or by contributing to other women’s cooperatives to support their mission.
Ellie Chase
Ellie is a second-year journalism student at the University of Colorado Boulder. She loves to travel and has visited 29 countries. When she's not in class or booking her next trip, Ellie likes going rock climbing or bagging another Colorado 14ner. She hopes to be able to combine her love of travel and her love of storytelling to report on stories across the world.