Backstrap loom weaving is an ancient art, recorded in the artifacts of the Maya. The Goddess Ixchel, archetypal Maya weaver, weaves the cosmos on her backstrap loom. For more than two thousand years, the skilled hands of Maya weavers have transformed threads into textiles – traditions passed down by women from generation to generation. Today, backstrap loom weaving remains a meditation for Maya women, as the weaving is a metaphor for the mysteries of creation. The indigenous names for elements of the loom, the weaving procedures, designs and the weaver herself are all part of the Maya vision of birthing and the Cosmos. Backstrap loom weaving is the one Maya art form to have persisted intact, despite 400 years of Spanish colonial determination to eradicate the culture.

Conditions of the immediate past and present, however, are threatening the very existence of the art. During the recent civil war, all Maya men were considered guerillas, and wearing their hand-woven garments signaled their ethnic identity. Therefore, when they traveled from their villages to distant markets, they stopped using traditional garb.

Now economic pressures are driving mothers to dress their children in used American clothing. Once accustomed to the other clothing, most people do not return to their traditional dress. Girls, who choose to go to school, are not learning to weave. Even the men, who still work their fields in the traditional manner, are feeling the economic pressure to abandon their “traje” for used clothing. And the media images presented to impressionable young people, do not support wearing traditional clothing.

Candis Krummel, an American living in Santiago Atitlán, organized the non-profit Cojolya Association of Maya Women Weavers in 1983. Dedicated to the preservation of backstrap loom weaving and the traditions which surround it-- not just as an historical relic but as a viable enterprise -- the Association offers a way for these skilled artists to make a living wage with the production of their magnificent textiles.

The Association provides weavers with threads and looms, design services, infrastructures and the development of markets to promote sales. A weaver selects a warp prepared at the weaving center, which she weaves in her home as part of her daily routine, in the tradition of her grandmothers. Weaving with only traditional techniques and designs, the textiles are made into fashion accessories – shopping bags, hand bags, hats and scarves and wraps. The Cojolya Association also weaves custom home furnishing textiles – table top, yardage, pillows, throws, spreads and rugs. Every time a textile is woven, a bundle of sticks and ropes are assembled to make the rustic loom used to weave the fabric, and then taken apart again. Thus every weaving is a unique creation, never to be identical with another.

As a member of the Fair Trade Federation of the USA, you can be certain that all of the artisans creating for Cojolya are earning a livable wage, based upon the national minimum wage standards. In this rural community, women who dedicate themselves to weaving, generally make more money than their husbands and are on a par with “white collar workers” in, for example, banking, teaching and health sector

While the chic design, practicality and durability of Cojolya'’s accessories have been the choice of a fashion-conscious, ethical and ecologically-concerned vanguard for a quarter of a century, there is a strong trend emerging amongst mainstream consumers who are aware of fair trade and global warming issues: they want to spend their money doing “the right thing” Backstrap loom weaving is totally sustainable there is no carbon footprint left behind Cojolya Association actively supports carbon reduction efforts through our placement of Onil Cooking Stoves (helpsinternational.org) in the homes of weavers, with a long range goal of having one in every home in Santiago Atitlan! Collaboration with generous donors, as well as direct support from your purchases of Cojolya’s textiles, means that a woman with an Onil stove uses only one-third the firewood she burned before! In a community where “peak oil” prices have already made propane stoves obsolete for most families, this reduction makes a huge impact on the deforestation of our mountainsides.

The Association’s textiles have won critical acclaim. Their client list has included Takashimaya New York, ABC Carpets, Michael Graves Design, Simon Pearce, The Textile Museum of Washington, D.C., Chicago Art Institute, The Gardener in Berkeley, California, The Seattle Art Museum, McKinnon Furniture in Seattle and numerous interior designers who have commissioned textiles by the yard.