Now Teotitlán del Valle is a modern, successful village that keeps its fascinating Zapotec heritage alive through its ancient traditions and celebrations. The art of weaving has been practiced for centuries in Teotitlán del Valle, dating back to the pre-Hispanic era, a time in which the village paid tribute to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan through offerings of woven cotton products at the end of the XV century.
Teotitlán del Valle Today
A drive directly into town from the Oaxaca highway leads to many shops boasting vibrant displays of weavings in many sizes, colors and designs. One passes large new houses, most of traditional style and incorporating a weaving store, an Internet café, a small hotel, and Tlamanalli, a world-class restaurant famous for its Zapotec cuisine.
Many streets are paved now and many of the houses are bigger and have better facilities, such as, electricity, indoor plumbing and telephones. There are more schools, a health clinic, sports fields, streetlights, and improved roads.
Teotitlán's New Prosperity
This prosperity is due to the Zapotec people’s industriousness and to the help of a few rug buyers from the U.S.
Susanna Starr, one of these buyers and owner of Starr Interiors in Taos, New Mexico, says of this success, “A recent thesis on weaving villages around the world, said that this village is one of the most successful anywhere.”
“A number of factors that contribute to this phenomenon; the weavers now weave on double harness looms introduced by the Spanish and have more of a market to sell their work than ever before. Prior to the influx of the earlier compradores (buyers) in the seventies, there was a limited market, mostly in Mexico. Some of the people like us came to the village and saw the remarkable quality and creativity in these textiles and introduced them in the U.S.”
“It was an ongoing exercise in educating people to the existence of the Zapotec Indian culture, which most had never heard of."
“Another important factor is that the people of this village still continue to weave in the same tradition that they have for generations. The entire village is involved, in one way or another. Children, although they all attend school, are exposed to weaving at an early age so it becomes part of their everyday lives. Virtually every house has a loom, a spinning wheel, a dye pot, fleece, yarns and stacks of finished weavings, which continue to be the lifeblood of this village.”
The Zapotec Weaving Process
A day spent in the village consisted of accompanying Alta Gracia López, a dye-maker, to a village in the mountains to buy yarn.
The wool is sheared from Churro sheep, introduced by the Spanish around 500 years ago. Women carded the wool and spun it using the centuries-old drop-spindle method.
Returning to the weaving village, the women spun it into skeins on a traditional spinning wheel.
Then Alta Gracia lit wood fires under large metal cauldrons of water in an outdoor shed. She added just the right amount of dye to get the exact magenta and turquoise she wanted. She then added mordant to set the colors. After the wool cooked just long enough, she let it cool and then lifted it out of the dye bath, heaved it over her shoulders and trundled down the hill to the river. There she washed and rinsed it several times, beating it on the rocks in between. When done, she would cart the wet wool back up the hill and hang it on a long wooden rack to dry in the sun like a bright, woolen rainbow.
After drying, the wool was ready for the loom.
A Side Trip to the Market at Teotitlán del Valle
The market buzzed with activity and the sound of people speaking Zapotec. Everywhere were flowers--especially marigolds--the favorite for the current celebration (Day of the Dead)--sugar cane, special breads, sugar skulls--everything needed to prepare their altars.
Next to the market is a church that the Spanish built atop a Zapotec temple. Part of the temple is visible, and many stones in the church have ancient Zapotec symbols carved in them, the same symbols that appear in many of the rug designs.
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