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Friday
is market day in the city of Solola. It's market draws a crowd since Solola
is the capital of the department of Solola an area that includes 19 municipalities around
Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. The majority (approximately 90%) of the city's inhabitants
are Cakchiquel Indians who proudly retain their heritage. It is one of the few
municipalities where both men and women routinely wear their traditional Mayan
dress. |
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| Women often carry their wears in the
traditional Mayan market basket, balancing a few vegetables from their garden, tortillas,
textiles or even a couple chickens that they hope to sell at market. The common blue
plastic pans are scales used to compare the weight of different products. |
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| Most of the surrounding land is in subsistence agriculture
with corn providing the primary stable of the diet. The majority of the farms
are less than 1.7 acres and are located on marginal land that use the slopes in a system
of terraces and irrigation. Besides corn, black beans, broad beans, squash,
pumpkins and onions are cultivated. |
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The
market provides valuable income and a chance to talk with friends. |
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| Weaving is of major importance. Most women
weave to provide clothes for their families and/or to obtain income. Women weave on
the backstrap loom and make fabric for shirts, trousers, huipils, tzutes, caps for babies
and sashes. The fabric for skirts is made by men on a treadle loom. Time
for weaving is squeezed between other domestic chores. Some women are merchants and
sell the weavings of their friends and family in the market. |
to: An excellent reference on Solola
Weaving |
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In general the weaving of Solola made on a
backstrap loom is warp-faces plain weave and has a design of vertical stripes. Red is a
predominate color in the women's huipil. A design is often woven into the fabric
using two-faces or double-faced brocading giving the appearance of "embroidery".
Hand embroidery may be added. |
| Women often wear ribbons in their hair or may
use a small tzute to shade their face from the market sun. |
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| The blue or black skirts are made on a treadle loom,
usually using plain weaving. The design of the fabric includes weft stripes.
The traditional white stripes are now being replaced by ikat stripes or by
brocading. |
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