VOA文化艺术2023--Traditional Work of Aymara Women in Danger of Disappearing

Traditional Work of Aymara Women in Danger of Disappearing

In northern Chile, Teófila Challapa learned to weave, or make cloth, surrounded by the high hills and sandy roads of the Atacama Desert.

"Spin the threads, girl," her grandmother told her fifty years ago.

The 59-year-old Challapa is Aymara, a native South American Indian people. She raises alpacas and llamas. The animals' hair can be cut off and turned into cloth called wool.

"We had no clothes or money, so we needed to learn how to dress with our own hands," said Challapa. She lives in Cariquima, a town with fewer than 500 people near the Chile-Bolivia border.

The knowledge of weaving passes from one generation to another, securing Aymara families' connection with their land.

Challapa prays before beginning her work: "Mother Earth, give me strength, because you're the one who will produce, not me."

Among the 3 million Aymaras who live along the borders of Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, the Earth is known as "Pachamama." Acts to honor Pachamama and asks for Earth's blessings² are a part of everyday life for the people.

"I believe in God, but the Earth provides us with everything," Challapa said.

Pachamama inspires Challapa's work in textiles. It provides means for survival³, too.

"My animals are my mother," Challapa said.

Her alpacas and llamas were a source of meat, wool, and emotional support during the difficult years she spent as a single parent raising her children.

Aymara weavers⁵ cut off their animals' wool in October when the weather is warmer. The llamas keep several centimeters of wool to keep them warm and ready for the "floreo." During this ancient ceremony celebrated⁶ in February, Aymaras tie wool flowers to their animals identifying them as their property. They also thank Pachamama for providing them the things they need.

Once the wool is collected and cleaned, the weavers use their fingers to pull threads out of it. The threads are grouped together and placed on a weaving machine called a loom⁷.

Aymara women like Challapa use the money they make from the sale of wool products to send their children to school.

"I thank God because I always told myself: I don't want them to be like me," said Marcelina Choque, another woman weaver⁴ who lives in the town of Pozo Almonte. "This is my only profession. If I don't sell, I have nothing."

Such generational progress comes with mixed emotions, however. "I taught my daughters how to weave just like me, but now that they have other jobs, they don't weave anymore," Choque said.

Several woman weavers say the traditional work may end because younger Aymara are moving away from their hometowns. The weavers say there are few young Aymara women who know how to use a loom.

"In rural areas, there is a significant migration⁸ of young people, and the population is aging," said Luis Pizarro, who works at the Agricultural Development Institute of Chile.

The organization supports rural development for Chilean communities connected to the Aymara culture, Pizarro said. The goal is to increase the farming of alpacas and llamas and products through special events and online.

Recently, the Institute held a fashion show inside a shopping center in the city of Iquique. Teófila Challapa, María Choque and other women had their daughters serves as models at the show and sold some of their work.

"We try to get daughters and granddaughters of artisans involved in their cultural inheritance," Pizarro said.

Nayareth Challapa (no relation to Teófila) speaks proudly about her mother who taught her how to pick the perfect plants for coloring the cloth.

"The colors of our textiles are related to nature: the earth, the sky, the hills. The land is sacred for us," the 25-year old said. She said the work represents the maker's emotions as well as the "llamas, flowers and mountains she wants to keep present."

Nayareth Challapa moved to a city to attend university like so many others. But home is never far from her heart.

"When migrating⁹, many forget their ethnicity and leave their roots behind," Challapa said. "But my family tries to avoid that.

Words in This Story

thread – n. a long, thin piece of cotton, silk, or wool used for sewing

spin – v. to draw out and twist into yarn¹⁰ or thread

blessing¹ – n. something that makes one happy or content

inspire – n. to cause to have a particular thought or feeling

significant – n. of a noticeably or measurably large amount

fashion – n. a common style especially of dress during a particular time or among a certain group

1 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

2 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

4 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

5 weavers   

织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Navajo are noted as stockbreeders and skilled weavers, potters, and silversmiths. 纳瓦霍人以豢养家禽，技术熟练的纺织者，制陶者和银匠而著名。
• They made out they were weavers. 他们假装是织布工人。

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 loom   

n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近

参考例句：

• The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
• The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。

8 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

9 migrating   

v.迁移，移往( migrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mudflats offer a winter home to thousands of migrating swans. 泥滩成为成千上万只迁徙的天鹅越冬的场所。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many Asians are migrating to the West. 许多亚洲人移民去了西方国家。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 yarn   

n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事

参考例句：

• I stopped to have a yarn with him.我停下来跟他聊天。
• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。