Zulema Gutiérrez -ARGENTINA

Zulema Gutierrez lives in Laguna Blanca, a protected natural area for vicuñas at 3200 meters above sea level. A town of 600 inhabitants is home to vicuñas, pink flamingos and other South American species that are protected along with cave art dating back to 2000 AC. A crossroads for the Southern caravans, this was an area of rural weavers specializing in ropes and functional textiles for hunters and gatherers passing by. Vicuñas, as opposed to llamas, need to exist in the wild and cannot be domesticated. Vicuñas need to be captured through an ancient method called Chaku that takes the animals, sheers them and returns them to nature in a ritual that brings the community together. This practice was forgotten and has been reestablished since 2002 as the only sustainable way to protect the animals and extract the precious fiber efficiently. Approximately 2000 vicuñas remain in this protected area and their sheering is planned yearly by the community. Once the fiber is extracted and the animals are returned to the wild, the fiber is divided: 10% for the owner of the land that hosts the Chaku; 20% for the province and 70% for the cooperative that splits it equally among members. Then the cleaning of the fiber takes place and each weaver starts to spin the fiber and prepare for the following year. Spinning the vicuña fiber is the most time consuming activity and the one that brings together the community around “la minga de vicuña”, a meeting of women where different skills are shared and passed on while dancing, eating and talking. Once the spinning is done, weaving the vicuña is the next step. The Gutierrez family affirms that improving the raw material with the re-establishment of the Chaku, has required them to go back to learning ancestral techniques from older artisans and looking at old weavings and motifs such as “partidge eye” motif and different macrame fringes. This cooperative only uses vicuña fiber in natural colors and motifs. The weavers mix the craft with other activities related to the land following their own rhythm. Crescencia Casimiro, Anita Suarez, Ana de Luján Suarez, Julia Guerra, and Ramon Gutierrez among many others, are leading the movement towards vicuña as a finished product of excellent quality, a heritage textile that represents who they are, where they live and how they envision the future.