Collection: Wayúu bags

Colombian Wayúu bags, smaller and medium sized bags.

"Wayúu" is declared as a Denomination of Origin since 2011 - it is intended to protect the intellectual property rights of this indigenous community of artisans. The denomination is owned by the Wayúu Indigenous Reservation.

The Wayúu are an indigenous people who still preserve their cultural traditions, among them, the trade of weaving, taught according to the myth by the spider or Wale' Kerü.

The Wayúu are an indigenous people that inhabit the Guajira peninsula, the most northeastern part of Colombia, bordering Venezuela; This community with a matriarchal structure has adapted to the inclement weather of a desert located in front of the Caribbean Sea.

The Wayúu bags are the maximum expression of the Wayuú fabric - easy to recognize by their colors and designs. The bags are made in crochet (a technique introduced by Catholic missionaries at the beginning of the 20th century) or with a crochet, and the elaboration of each piece can take approximately 20 days.

Wale' Kerü (the spider)

Weaving for the Wuayúu people, more than a cultural practice and an inheritance from their ancestors, is a way of conceiving and expressing life as they feel and desire it.

According to the story, the spider or Wale' Kerü was the one who taught the Wayúu woman to weave.

Wale' Kerü first taught a single woman. That woman then told that the spider would teach them to weave if they gave her a donkey or a goat, and then the Wayúu gave her their clothes and necklaces.

The story also says that Wale' Kerü fell in love with a Wayúu, ran away with him and when he took her to his family, the Wayuu's mother told him: "Take this material to make girdles" and Wale' Kerü ate all the cotton and then the thread began to come out of his mouth, already twisted and ready to weave.

I have one unit from each bag.