Cieneguilla Trip
Sat, Mar 28, 9am–5pm
Center for Global Justice
Calzada de la Luz 42
300 pesos

Weaving for survival 
By Lisa Lungren and Audrey Trigg

In Cieneguilla, the traditional collides with the modern as women of indigenous descent sit on the ground, weaving baskets of bamboo, sipping Coca-Cola from plastic bottles. Children play amid cacti and goats; North American rock blares from a radio.

Culture change threatens the survival of this rural community in the municipality of Tierra Blanca in the state of Guanajuato. On the Center for Global Justice´s last campo trip of the season, you will meet the women weavers and enjoy a meal they prepare. 

For generations, women have harvested, carved, and woven bamboo into baskets used to carry and store vegetables, tortillas, and other domestic goods. With a large percentage of adult men working in the US, women boosted family income by selling their baskets. But with global trade liberalization, foreign-made plastic containers have been steadily replacing these handmade baskets.

Organized into a cooperative by Doņa Virginia, the artisans of Cieneguilla aim to market to foreign tourists.

They are working with Mujeres Productoras, an organization that sells crafts made by rural women in its San Miguel shop at Calzada de la Luz 42, near the corner of Loreto. The shop boasts handmade dolls, clothing, soaps, and baskets. Proceeds go directly to the artisans and also to training workshops. With capital and supplies from Mujeres Productoras, the women of the Cieneguilla cooperative have constructed a second workspace and are learning to use natural dyes and new designs for more decorative baskets. 

Doņa Seinada, a cooperative member, explains that basket weaving is easily combined with childcare, subsistence cultivation and food preparation.

 Working at home, the women can maintain the communion of family meals, continue to organize traditional religious festivals and reinvest income in the community.

Although modern media and popular culture are relentless influences, they are balanced by the focused preservation of local spiritual traditions. The subsistence of Cieneguilla’s indigenous traditions and artisanship is, in and of itself, a resistance to globalization. 

The day trip leaves the canter’s office at 9am and returns by 5pm. Buy your ticket there in advance since space is limited.

Lisa Lungren and Audrey Trigg are interns at the Center for Global Justice.