The textile is made in the Maya Q'eqchi' village of Samac in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.
Samac is located on a coffee farm near Coban, Guatemala. The community settled there after the internal conflict and began to develop a coffee cooperative as well as the weaving cooperative of Ixbalamque.
The tobacco and hummingbird design refernces a Q'eqchi' origin story about the sun, Junaipú, and the moon, Ixbalamke. Through a series of events, Junaipú tried to get closer to Ixbalamke and turned into a hummingbird that sat on top of a tobacco plant in order to see her close up. In Q'eqchi communities, boyfriends and girlfriends are jokingly called Junaipú and Ixbalamke to this day.
Natural dyes are an innovation in Q'eqchi' textiles. The use of indigo and other local dye colors emerged from a long-term colllaboration with Guatemalan deisgner Olga Reiche to appeal to a new emerging audience for Q'eqchi' weavings beginning at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market in 2012.

MEASUREMENTS 58 cm W x 2 M L

TECHNIQUE / DETAILS Backstrap loom weaving with embroidery between the panels and along borders

MATERIALS Indigo dye on white gauze

SIZE One size 

Each piece takes 2 weeks to make.

Ready to dispatch 3 weeks after purchase.