The artifact tradition of the indigenous Wayúu

The Wayúu bags that have taken the lead in the fashion industry are in fact daily essentials for the Wayúu communities and are all handmade by females in the tribes. The Wayúu females learn how to weave from the young age, and the weaving techniques are handed down by mothers to daughters, grandmas to granddaughters. Apart from learning the techniques, the female members also need to create new patterns, which are unique to each family; therefore, the weaving craft also symbolizes the heritage from generation to generation. The craft of making fabric also means the initiation into adulthood for local female; one is truly a full-grown woman when she has learned how to weave.
 

There is a folktale about the origin of the weaving craft in the Wayúu tribes. Legend has it that there was a man who was in love with a spider. One day, the man’s mother collected some cotton and gave it to the spider as a gift. The spider swallowed the cotton then spun and wove beautiful patterns with her silk threads. The native folks were enchanted and would like to own the patterns, but there was only one industrious woman who didn’t give up when everyone else did learned the art of weaving from the spider. The spider taught the woman how to weave and the woman passed on the knowledge to the others in the communities; hence the art of the weaving became the artifact tradition of Wayúu communities. The spider was called Waleker which means ‘the weaver spider’ and it therefore became the brand names of many apparel companies nowadays.

The Wayúu indigenous tribe that straddles the Venezuela-Colombia border

The Wayúu are an Amerindian ethnic group who are offspring to the Arawak of South America and the Caribbean. About 3,000 years ago the Wayúu nomadized around the Amazon, the Antilles, and the La Guajira area before they later on settled in the Guajira Peninsula in northernmost part of Colombia and northwest Venezuela on the Caribbean Sea coast. The Wayúu population resides in the area numbered approximately 400,000 the present day.
 

The Wayúu indigenous tribe is located in the desertic Guajira Peninsula which is arid and forbidding due to lack of rainfall. Not so long ago there were three solid years of complete drought due to El Niño and the extreme climate. To make matters worse, local mining industry and dam construction obstructed the access to the Rancheria River which natives reply on for livings. Without clean and sustainable water access from the river, local inhabitants have to walk for 3 hours before they can obtain water from nearest wells.
 

Material and weaving techniques of Wayúu bags

Traditionally, the raw material of Wayúu bags were mainly Algodón salvaje, a sort of wild cotton, maguey, or wool, and the dyes contain the fruits of cactus and Iguaraya. Nowadays the Wayúu bags are mostly made of cotton yarns. Tradition material are still used by some of the clans. 
 

Kannas

The patterns in Wayúu bags are exquisite and one of a kind; they are called Kannas in Wayuunaiki. Each woman has her own unique Kannas when creating, which are usually inspired by their daily life stories and portrait their admiration for nature, their understanding of the universe, or their stands toward life. Every Kannas has its significance, showcasing the female artisans’ unique artful thoughts. The Kannas compilation of different artisan rarely duplicate, which also makes the Wayúu mochilas so exceptional.

The Wayúu bags originated from the Wayúu indigenous community in Colombia, South America are daily essentials for the Wayúu. Each style of the mochilas is one of a kind and all hand-crocheted by native female artisans. Every mochilas bag unveils the charms of the Wayúu indigenous artifact tradition.