62 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 4 
made on the electric looms of the Cantel mill. Be- 
cause of the cheapness of indigo dye (chiefly from 
El Salvador) and of sacatinta, with which it is 
mixed, much blue, green, and jaspe dyeing is done, 
the Salcaja-San Cristébal Totonicapan area being 
most important in this regard (pl. 40, a,d,e). Much 
colored yarn, especially yellows, reds, and purples,°° 
is imported (English, American, and German, for 
the most part) and sold in markets by itinerant 
merchants. Home dyeing is almost nonexistent, so 
far as I know, except in the case of the foot-loom 
weavers. For stick-loom work, women buy imported 
colored yarn, and white yarn from the Cantel mill. 
Some indigo blues and tie-dyes of the Salcaja area 
are used in those municipios where such colors are 
in demand, e. g., San Pedro la Laguna. In many 
sections, spinning is still practiced, but it is a disap- 
pearing art. In the Lake Atitlan villages, notably 
San Pedro (pl. 9, d) and Santiago, it is fairly com- 
mon, and in the Cuchumatanes both white and 
ixcaco brown cotton are spun. Sometimes home- 
grown cotton is twisted together with Cantel yarn,** 
the former to furnish superior whiteness and the 
latter superior tensile strength. Wool is rarely used 
on stick looms except in Chiapas (common at Cha- 
mula) ; some San Sebastian Huehuetenango women 
weave wool skirts on stick looms. 
In areas where stick-loom weaving is practiced, 
which includes most of the Highlands, with the 
major exception of the Quezaltenango—Totonicapan— 
Momostenango region (map 16), women ordinarily 
weave their own huipils and sutes (general utility 
cloths). In the Lake Atitlan area and other isolated 
sections, men’s trousers, and in some cases their 
shirts, are made of the same goods as the women’s 
huipils (pl. 7). Geometric designs and conventional- 
ized animals, trees, and the like are often skillfully 
and beautifully worked into textiles on the loom, The 
tree of life, Hapsburg double eagle, peacock, and 
many other common symbols, came in with the 
Spaniards (pl. 42, g). 
In some cases, merely stripes are woven, or the 
cloth may be plain, and later embroidered or brocaded 
by the weaver, as in Chichicastenango. 
5 Generally the shade which simulates the native mollusk purple, once 
a great product of the Gulf of Nicoya region, Nicaragua, but now seldom 
used, because of its greater cost (said to be $8 per pound, as compared 
with $1 for German yarn) and inferior durability. 
6 Because of its short staple, ixcaco does not spin into a yarn of great 
tensile strength, and where used it is generally in the weft, the warp 
being plain white, or dyed brown to simulate ircaco. 
°7 Observed at San Pedro Cutzan, and said to be practiced also at San 
Pedro de Laguna. 
EXPLANATION OF SYMBOLS FOR MAP 16 
O MAJOR WOOL-WEAVING CENTER 
MINOR WOOL-WEAVING CENTER 
MAJOR COTTON-WEAVING CENTER 
MINOR COTTON-WEAVING CENTER 
COMMERCIAL STICK-LOOM WEAVING 
COTTON MARKET 
WOOL MARKET 
BELTS (WB= WOOL BELTS) 
BB BELTS AND HEAD BANDS 
cc COTTON CLOTH GOODS 
©) 
6 
A 
@ 
@ 
s SKIRTS (Foot loom; rarely stick loom, 
as at Chalchitan (blye cot- 
ton) and San Sebastian Huehue- 
tenango—also Chiapas, notably 
Chamula—(natural black wool).) 
\s LADINO SKIRT WEAVERS 
$ TAILOR-MADE SUITS 
Zz ZUTES 
¥* ELECTRIC COTTON MILL 
Sel he oh: he oh ae SY clo ate leah ea le 
STICK LOOM ABSENT OR RARE THIS SIDE OF LINE 
———> TRADE STREAM, COTTON GOODS 
——-—-> TRADE STREAM, WOOLEN GOODS 
MAIN DYE-WOCDS MARKET: MOMOSTENANGO 
TREADLE-LOOM WEAVING 
Manufacture of cloth on the large loom of Colonial 
Spanish introduction, on which the heddles are raised 
and lowered by treadles, is a commercial-scale in- 
dustry. It differs from stick-loom work not only in 
this respect but in being carried on almost entirely 
by men, often Ladinos, and in employing wool yarn 
on a scale comparable with that of cotton. 
COTTON 
From the standpoint of native garments, the most 
important cotton cloths woven on foot looms are 
skirt-lengths (cortes). These are made according to 
a standard, specified length, width, weight, and pat- 
