The indigenous Maya peoples of Mexico and Central America have textile traditions stretching back millennia. These textile-making practices connect generations of families and communities through highly skilled processes of weaving, dyeing, brocading, and embroidery.  The resulting textiles express a multitude of designs that help to identify Maya personhood, family, and region.

The Guatemala Highland Maya in particular have preserved many forms of their traditional textiles and designs because of their relatively remote locations during the time of the Spanish conquest, which resulted in limited contact with Spanish invaders and colonization, and even with subsequent ladino or mixed-race governments. The second half of the 20^th century brought civil conflict into this region, but also, paradoxically, an influx of tourists. Tourists especially both threaten and fuel the perpetuation of Highland Maya traditions, as the intricately woven Maya garments have proven very successful on the international tourist market, but the tourist trade also encourages the development of different styles of clothing, such as more simple-to-wear garments, to meet the buyers’ preferences.

Although traditional Maya clothing requires expensive materials and is time-consuming to make, the Guatemala Highland Maya continue to produce and wear these garments. However, wearing traditional clothing as everyday wear is not only taxing on a family’s resources but can also be dangerous, as this can make individuals the targets of ethnic violence. Traditional Maya garments have therefore nearly faded from everyday use, but Maya artisans continue to produce them, both for the tourist trade and for their families to wear during religious holidays.

Alforjas, or saddlebags, are bags or pouches that are draped over a mule or horse to transport goods from one place to another. The adornment of these bags ranges widely; some consist of plain, undyed maguey fibers, while others are made of cotton and dyed a single bright color, and still others are intricately adorned with complex motifs. This alforja has been dyed a solid, bright yellow color, but it has an elaborately woven lattice pattern on the central, bridging strap. Today, alforjas have been adapted to become leather bags that drape over bicycle or motorcycle seats. Researched by Julia Kidwell

The faja is a type of belt worn both by men and women. It is often striped along about two-thirds of its length, but it has colorfully brocaded patterns on the last third of the belt. This faja from Santa Maria Nebaj, a remote mountain community in central Guatemala, has elaborately brocaded geometric motifs of multicolored diamonds patterns set in rectangular sections, and the patterns grow more intricate as they approach the end of the belt. Men wear these belts over a tunic-like shirt on top of short or ballooning pants.  Because this belt is complex in design and relatively narrow, this is most likely a woman’s faja, and it would be used to hold up a corte, or traditional skirt; it is often tied over a woman’s huipil, the traditional Maya woman’s popover blouse. Researched by Julia Kidwell

The cinta is an elaborately woven, narrow hair ribbon that is worn in a variety of ways by Highland Maya women. Originally woven on a traditional backstrap loom, the cinta became more elaborate after the introduction of the Spanish treadle loom, which the Maya adapted into a headband loom to develop intricate tapestry designs such as the motifs of women, rabbits, and geometric patterns on this cinta. The K’iche’ Maya of Totonicapán now also combine traditional fibers with imported synthetic fibers to create embellishments like the flamboyant loops of maguey wrapped in coruscating acrylic fibers and the shining, acrylic-fiber tassels.

In some communities, older women continue to wear the cinta daily, despite the elaborate weaving and wrapping process for attaching the headdress, and despite the headaches that can be caused by tightly pulled hair. For most younger women, wearing the cinta is now relegated to celebrations and festivals. Researched by Julia Kidwell

This sash is of impressive length, measuring over three meters, and it forms part of the traditional male garb of the Guatemala Highland Maya. Men wear the sash by first folding it to half its width and then wrapping the sash multiple times around the waist and tying it in place. The sash remains a part of traditional male dress, but because of its grand size and the complexity of wearing it, the sash has not become popular among tourists. Therefore, unlike other Maya garments, tourists have had little influence on the patterns woven into the sash, and instead the sashes tend to express more traditional developments in Maya designs. Researched by Julia Kidwell

The huipil is the traditional popover blouse of Mesoamerican women. Typically fashioned from tightly woven cotton, short versions like this huipil are worn over the upper torso, while longer versions extend down over a skirt. The huipil was popularized in the global imagination in part by the famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who insisted on wearing huipiles to pay homage to her indigenous ancestors. The huipil still serves as a strong symbol of indigenous femininity in Mexico and Central America.

The huipil is often the centerpiece of a woman’s traditional dress, with colorful brocaded designs, intricate embroidery, or both; the corte, or skirt, is often embellished to match these designs. Common motifs are bright flowers with specific meanings, but today huipiles may include Christian religious symbols such as crosses or images of saints. Designs and patterns also often indicate a particular community or town, social status, or even the marital status of the wearer.  Researched by Julia Kidwell

For more information, you may contact the researcher(s) noted in the title of this exhibit entry, or Dr. Billie Follensbee, the professor of the course, at BillieFollensbee@MissouriState.edu