A’Batz’Baal

Natural Dye Woman’s Weaving Cooperation San Jaun La Laguna, Solola Guatemala

Ana Coche, the director of the group, has brought together 26 women ranging from ages 19 to 66 years old to form a cooperative where they work together to naturally dye their threads, weave, and then sell their weavings. Many of the women in the group are widows, meaning that their husband is not around, not necessarily that he died, but the women are supporting their family alone. Also, most of the women in the group are illiterate, yet proudly sign their name with their thumbprint. The women are all Tzu’tujuil Mayas and they all still speak the Tzu’tujil language, some speak the language exclusively with only a couple words of Spanish. They use the traditional backstrap loom which the Mayans in the Guatemalan highlands have used for centuries to create their weavings.

Some of the products the women make are scarves, shawls, purses, totes, napkins, placemats, ponchos, table clothes, table runners, bedspreads, and much more. The weavings are a very good quality and the colors do not fade because the women boil the thread first in the trunk of a banana tree which they use as a fixer. The women then use many different natural items to create different colors for their weavings; some examples are, the avocado pit and shell, coffee plant leaves, the bark of many trees, the leaves of many plants, carrots, hibiscus flowers, just to name a few.

The women are currently working to build a small museum and store where they can show the weaving process and history to tourists who come to the village. And they are also looking for a market to sell their textiles. They have just obtained their legal papers to be a non-profit organization in Guatemala, which is quite a process and involves lots of government papers and trainings. Ana and others in her group travel to different expositions and trainings around Guatemala to try to find a market to sell their weavings, as the tourist market it San Juan is very, very small. If you are interested in ordering any of these materials, you can contact Ana Coche (the director of the group) at:__________________