The weaving tradition among the Mapuche is ancient and it involves a very important cultural preservation method for generations of Mapuche – especially considering that it is a tradition passed on from mothers to daughters.
The weavers working with The Chol-Chol Foundation only use sheep’s wool. They make their own looms in their houses, according to the size of the textiles piece they are going to make. Colors come exclusively from vegetation and mineral elements in their own plots.
The ancient Mapuche weaving techniques display a vast array of geometrical symbols, mostly referring to abstract concepts and spiritual life. The weaver is completely free to use known symbols or create new symbols from existing ones, according to the meaning she wants to convey in her weaving.
The elaboration process is hard and time-consuming, and usually one weavers does the entire process all by herself - washing the dirty wool, spinning, dyeing and weaving. You may see more of the process here.
Many concepts and meanings from the Mapuche culture have been passed on from generation to generation through symbols on the weavings. The Chol-Chol Foundation, through a volunteer research carried out by Timothy Podkul in 2002, compiled a number of symbols and their meanings with the weavers working with the Foundation.
Every dye used by Chol-Chol weavers is natural dye of vegetable or mineral origin - such as clay dirt, onion skins, flowers, roots, grass, lichen, fruits, soot, among other.
The actual dying process is still quite rustic, with weavers using ancient Mapuche techniques of submerging clean wool into a cast iron pot of boiling that contains just the right combination of natural dyes to produce the desired color. Weavers use natural fixatives, such as salt, vinegar or naturally-occurring aluminum powder, to intensify and ensure the wool fibers hold onto the colors. In summary, weavers truly use a variety of natural resources at their reach to produce the beautiful colors in the wool.
