Cotton Before it Became the Fabric of Everyone's Lives

In this episode of Weaving Voices, Rebecca chats with:

• Louie Garcia, an educator and weaver, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Here are some highlights:

Cotton in the Southwest

• Louie discusses the introduction of cotton into the Pueblo Southwest from Mesoamerica roughly around 600 BCE, and how prevalent and important cotton is in that culture.

The Cedar Mesa Perishables Project

• Rebecca and Louie discuss the Cedar Mesa Perishables Project, which is in the process of documenting approximately 5,000 artifacts that have been excavated from alcoves in southeastern Utah. These artifacts include textile fragments and different tools that were used for gathering and processing cotton.

• Louie talks about the process of gathering and processing cotton in the Pueblo Southwest.

Interconnected Communities

• Louie shares the history of the Pueblo Southwest as being an exchange of ideas and technologies across landscapes and through communities as a way to survive in those very harsh environments.

Textile Practices

• Rebecca and Louie discuss the distinctions of textile practices throughout the Pueblos and how history has affected those traditions.

• Louie expands on the significance of human hair being woven into some garments in the Pueblos and explains that it has to do with lineage and the women's line in a matrilineal culture and society.

• Louie talks about the traditional significance of certain textiles being woven specifically for women or men and the specific circumstances for which a certain textile would be worn or used.

Continuing Traditions

• Louie points out the importance of continuing Pueblo traditions even if one no longer lives directly in that community anymore. He shares that he makes time every day to practice some aspect of fiber art tradition.