The Weavers
In these villages, the weavers are women, who wear skirts and traditional dress that is woven. The weaving tradition is a
great part of their daily lives, and from a young age girls will learn first to spin wool and then to weave. Weavings play an
important part of courtship, marriage and childbirth as well as other ceremonies that mark important changes in people's
lives.
“These people speak Quechua, the language of the Incas. They are a shy people and will avert their eyes when visited by strangers”
Most of the older women cannot speak Spanish, and even the younger women's Spanish vocabulary is limited and
stilted. With education only coming to some of these villages recently, the vast majority of these women are illiterate.
They still largely use a barter system but they are becoming more familiar with the monetary system. The men usually are
in control of the money, as they speak Spanish and will visit the 'Sacred Valley' (i.e. Ollantaytambo) more frequently and are
more worldly.
The women start families early (i.e. 14-18 years old), most commonly with men from neighboring villages. Exact statistics in
regard to infant and child mortality are not available but a recent visit by doctors to Rumira Sondormayo showed that every
child was suffering from malnutrition.
http://www.livingheartperu.org/projects.htm
Virginia Medina Mamani
President of Weaving Association Puca Turpay
Age: 27 yrs. old
Marital Status: Single (traditionally women get married at around 16yrs)
Weaving Likes: She makes weavings with the following patterns pinchinchu (dove, bird), chicks, hen. She likes the color green and the sun reflecting off of water. She seems to be forward thinking as she also has a green house on the property.
Beatrice
Age: 40
Marital Status: Married
4 Children Christobal is her oldest, he attends high school in Ollantaytambo - looking for more opportunities outside of his village, and is studying to be tour guide. Florentina is the 2nd oldest girl, who wants to do the same as her brother.
Beatrice doesn't want her kids to end up like her. She thinks that if she helps her children find better lives they will help her later.
She wants to use her money to pay for her children's schooling.
Weaving Likes: She likes the color pink and especially the pink scarf she made
because it matches all her clothing.
Maria
Age: 31
Marital Status: Married
2 Children. One son of age 9 and a daughter age 12.
Weaving Likes: Kite, Andean beer, sheep, the boats that the little children put in
the streams, one of her favorite designs is the road that frames her
work.
Maria Quispe Cruz
Age: 19
Marital Status: Single
Hermerejilda's sister
Wears an embroidered / flowered skirt that was bought in the market in Patacancha. Its quite different than the typical skirts, and she bought it because she liked it.
She speaks Spanish, and completed her 3rd year of highschool in Patacancha.
Her mother taught her to weave.
Mercedes
Age: 46
Marital Status: Married with 6 children
Saturnina Puma Mamani
Age: 40
Marital Status: Married
Has 8 children. Her youngest child is a baby girl of 7 months. One of her daughters is in the Weaving Association, and her mother, Isabel, is the President of the Chaullacocha Weaving Association. Inter-marriage between villages is common in the high Andes region, and its common to find the women moving one or two villages up or down the Valley.
Hermerejilda Quispe Cruz
Age: 23
Weaving Likes: Favorite color green. Likes the ica flower.
2 children - one 3 and a half, the other 8 months
Extremely shy. Her sister is Maria Quispe Cruz.
Juana Quispe Machaka
Age: 25 years old
Marital Status: Married
She has two children, one 6 years old, the other one and a half.
Mattiasa Quispe Medina
Age: 25 years old
Marital Status: Married
Has two children - one 4 year old and one of 1 month. One of her sisters is also in the Association.
Isabel Mamani Hancco
Presidenta of Weaving Association - Ticllay Huarmi
Age: 56
Marital Status: Married
She is the President of the Chaullacocha Women's weaving association, Ticllay Huarmi. She has 7 children, 6 of which are all now grown men, and a daughter, Saturnina Puma who is a member of Association Puca Turpay in Rumira Sondormayo. Isabel is from the village of Chaullacocha, high above the Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru.
Juana Rios Churata
Age: 43 years old, more or less, she is not sure.
Marital Status: Married
She has five children – the three oldest are girls who have left home, one lives in Huilloq, another in Patacancha and one is studying night school in Cusco. The two older boys graduated from Chaullacocha Primary School last year (2008) and are both boarding at the Patacancha High School.
Juana Huamanhuillca Cjuro
Age: 21
Marital Status: Married
Juana is 21 and married. She is the Treasurer of the Ticllay Huarmi Weavers association. Has three children, 2 girls and a boy, with the eldest being 6 years old.
She didn’t have a lot of weavings to show us, and explained that she hadn’t been able to do much work in recent months as she has a baby of 1 year and five months old.
She is a native of Chaullacocha, and has been in the Association since the inception.
Martina Puro Soneyga
Age: Has an old appearance, but when asked about her age she laughs and says that she has no idea.
Marital Status: Married
She has just one son, and 4 grandchildren, and was accompanied by one of them, a three year old boy who attends the kindergarten in Chaullacocha.
She has always lived in Chaullacocha, and said that she is greatly enjoying the capacitacion workshops given by Senora Augustina.
Lucia Castillo Yupanqi
Age: 36 years old.
Marital Status: Married
Has 6 children, the youngest, just over one year old, is still on her back.
She has 4 daughters and one son, and with a sense of humor says that she thinks that she has the ability to have one more son!
Her oldest son now has a family of his own.
If not taking care of the baby, she has a daughter named Vilma Huaman Castillo that is usually sitting by her. Vilma is the only student in sixth grade at the Chaullacocha primary school, and her mother says that they are unsure whether she will go to Patacancha High School to continue her studies.
She is the mother of Santusa Kuro Castillo, who is in the weaving association and shows a lot of promise.
Alejandrina Pulca Pumacahua
Age: 23
Marital Status: Married
Extremely shy, its hard to communicate with Alejandrina, even through the Quechua translator, and she won't return smiles. She has a range of different weavings, some very good, some average. She explains that since the birth of her last baby, she has not been attending the weaving training given by Senora Augustina, because she was too busy with the baby.
Santusa Kuro Castillo
Age: 18
Marital Status: Single
Santusa (Lucia's daughter) is usually dressed in bright clothes and a montera (hat) that is outlandishly decorated in synthetic flowers. Her bright cheery smile and demeanour shows character, and as she speaks some Spanish, its much easier to communicate with her. Her weavings also show character – she has used bright yellows and oranges – and she says that although she is studying with Augustina and enjoys it, the bright colours are her own choice and style. Her weavings are finely finished and she shows great potential. She was absolutely delighted when she sold us some weavings.
Francisca Huaman Rios
Age: 40
Marital Status: Married
Francisca is 40 years old, and has 5 sons, and 1 daughter. The youngest son is 6 years old and was trailing behind her over the pass between Chaullacocha and Palqaq when we met her. She was heading towards Palqaq to buy supplies, but when she heard that we were going to buy weavings she decided to put off her supplies trip to instead show her weavings to us. As the first woman we met that day, she also visited the other women’s homes and told them to congregate at the school so we could see their products. We were very glad she decided to come to the school because her work was mostly made of alpaca, and showed great attention to detail.
Sra. Martina Puma Ccama
Secretary of the Ticllay Huarmi Weavers Association
Age: 29
Marital Status: Married
She has 3 children, and the oldest 9 years old and in fourth grade in the school. She speaks a tiny bit of Spanish. She showed a lot of character in the short conversation we had with her.
Barbara Yupanqi Sinchi
Marital Status: Married
Barbara has 2 kids, one girl of 10 years and one boy of 7 years. The kids go to school in Chaullacocha and love attending school. Her husband's name is Roberto and they live very close to the Chaullacocha school. She has a great sense of humor and when the women are sitting around weaving, she is always making jokes and talking. Barbara and her husband cultivate potatoes. She likes to weave a design called 'el torito'. Right now she's teaching her 10 year old daughter how to weave. Smiling, she says her daughter is a fast learner and is starting to weave well.
Alejandrina Riveros
Age: 22
Marital Status: Married
She has one daughter of 11 months, and she has always lived in her remote village. Her husband is named Jesus, and works as porter on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Alejandrina is from the village of Chaullacocha, high above the Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru.
Juliana Huaman Quispi
Age: 29
Marital Status: Married
She has one baby boy and 4 children total. She is from Chaullacocha and lives far away from the town.
Placida Mamani Yupanqui
President
Age: 31
3 kids, the oldest is 11 and the youngest is 8. She wants them to go to high school patacancha. It's expensive but she does not want her children to be illiterate like her. She wants the best for them - she wants them to have a better life than her, but she is also worried that her children will lose their customs.
Beatriz Janko Puma
Age: 40
She has 6 children, 4 sons and 2 daughters. The oldest children are now grown up, only the youngest two children are in the school.
Flora Quispe Kuhl
Age: 19
Marital Status: Single
Flora never went to school, though she has traveled to Ollantaytambo, Urubamba and Lares. She is a member of the Chupani Weaving Association and has a very bright smile.
Falisa Cjuro
Age: 22
Marital Status: Single
Falisa is 22 years old and single. She has never been to school. She has travelled to Urabamba 3 hours walk, and two hours by vehicle (5 hrs in total) once and Ollantaytambo twice a year. She wants to go to Cusco.
(Flora and Falisa were close friends - were giggling together the whole time we were visiting)
Timotea Cjuro
Age: 22
Marital Status: Single
She has been to school for 1 yr.
Teresa Puma Quilca
Age: 25
Marital Status: Married
5 Children. The youngest is 5 months old
Nusta Puma Huaman
Age: 40
Marital Status: Married
6 children and 2 grandchildren
Narcisa Ayma Huamanhuillca
Age: Doesn't know
Marital Status: Married
She has two sons, which both attend the Chupani school.
Maria Huaman Puma
Age: 19
Marital Status: Single
She has visited as far as Cusco, though she has always lived in Chupani. Her daily tasks include weaving, cooking, and working in the home. Maria is from the village of Chupani, high above the Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru.
Cristina Huaman Puma
Age: 26
Marital Status: Married
Cristina has one sister who lives in Chupani, and attends weaving sessions though she is not a formal member of the Assocation. (She lives far away up in the mountains and its difficult for her to come to the village regularly.) Christina has 2 sons. She didn't have any weavings to sell.
Nicolasa Puma Sinchi
Age: 76
Marital Status: Married
She has three daughters and three sons. 2 of her daughters are members of the Chupani Weaving Association - Vasilia Janko Puma and Beatriz Janko Puma. Nicolasa herself is not a member of the association and does not take classes with Agustina.
Margarita Cjuro Huaman
Age: 25
Marital Status: Married
Margarita has one daughter and one son. Both children attend the local school. She explained to us that if one of her children is sick, she needs to take them all the way to Yanahuara in the Sacred Valley (a long way) because that is which health centre the community of Chupani pertains to, and there they can receive free health care.
Aparacia Tapara Hancco
Age: 18
Marital Status: Single
Aparacia as a baby with a pink sun hat named Maria Cecilia, 7 months. She's from Chupani and went to school until 5th grade. She lives near the president in an area called Mishka Pampa. She's been to Cusco and liked the Correcancha. She likes to weave the lliklla and likes the color red.
Gregoria Huamanhuillca Rios
Age: 33
Marital Status: Married
5 children, 3 boys, 2 girls, she lives a long way away from Chupani, only one child studies in the school. Her husband is Antonio, one of the Apus Peru Chief Porters.
Virginia Yupanqi Mamani
Age: 27
Marital Status: Single
Virginia has 3 kids. Her oldest child is named Abraham and is in 1st grade at school in Chupani. Wilfredo is 5 years old, and Paula is 1 year, 1 month old. She speaks partial Spanish that's the best of any of the women in Chupani. She lives about one hour from Chupani in a part called Hatun Wayko Ishkaycocha. When asked about textiles, she says she likes to weave "todo". Her husband, Leoncio, is from Patacancha, about a 3 hour walk from Chupani, and works on the Camino Inca as a porter, although very rarely.
