CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHWEST GUATEMALA—MCcBRYDE 63 
tern, depending upon the usage in the municipio 
where they are worn. In general, however, more 
skirts are dark blue than any other color; °* the 
average width of the material is about 30 inches, and 
the length of the material is 6 to 7 varas (about 18 
ft.). The cloth beam on a skirt loom generally has 
a capacity of 30 skirt-lengths (about 500 ft.). 
The chief skirt-weaving region in Southwest 
Guatemala is that of Quezaltenango—Totonicapan, 
including not only those two major centers but also 
Salcaja (relative to size, perhaps, the most important 
single producer), San Cristobal, and Olintepeque. 
Other major skirt centers which supply a large ter- 
ritory around them are La Union (San Marcos), 
Huehuetenango, Chichicastenango, and Solola (map 
16). Indians and Ladinos both produce large quanti- 
ties of skirts at San Cristébal, Totonicapan, Que- 
zaltenango, and La Union. Elsewhere the skirt- 
makers are primarily Ladinos.®® 
At Salcaja, a Ladino town, a great amount of yarn 
is dyed, probably more than at any other center. 
Dark blue, particularly in jaspes, is the chief color, 
being used in perhaps 95 percent of all yarn dyed. 
Indigo in cakes from El Salvador is blended with 
cheaper German aniline dyes, then this mixture is 
added to about 8 or 10 times (by weight) the amount 
of sacatinta leaves (see p. 143). A mordant is pre- 
pared by leaching water through a mixture of wood 
ashes (3 parts) from Cajola and lime (1 part) from 
San Francisco el Alto; then adding this solution to 
20 parts of water, in large cement bins.1° The 
majority of the Salcaja weavers also dye, apparently, 
but many who do not, buy dyed thread from others. 
Some weavers even tie up strands of yarn to get 
their own desired jaspe patterns, then pay a dyer 
for dipping them into his color vat. The jaspe tech- 
nique is practiced almost exclusively at Salcaja, 
though it is probably done on a small scale at Hue- 
huetenango, San Cristébal, and a few other centers. 
Strands of yarn, in which the threads are counted, 
are bound up at intervals with cotton string, so 
tightly wound that the dye does not penetrate to 
the yarn, provided it is not left too long in the vat. 
ies mrapaninvaircecit of the greater cheapness and abundance of indigo 
than of other dyes, so much so that for other colors the yarn is bought 
already dyed. 
9 Tt was reported that Ladino weavers in Chichicastenango are some- 
times hired by Indian textile merchants to make skirts. The Indians 
were said to buy the thread and pay for the work by the corte. Weavers 
and their families often retail the skirts they make, sometimes taking 
them to distant markets and fairs. 
100 Sacatinta leaves (usually 150 lb.) are put to soak in the 400 gallons 
of water in the vat; then the dyes (about 20 lb.) are added the next day. 
After 2 weeks, the solution becomes quite green and odoriferous, with 
bubbles of carbon dioxide rising to the surface. It is then ready for use. 
By prearranging the spacings between the bindings, 
and the widths of them, the intervals of alternating 
blue and white are made to form various patterns 
when the yarn is set up on the loom (pl. 40, e). 
Characteristic of the Salcaja street scene are the 
great lengths of jaspe yarn warp strands, stretched 
over a space of a hundred yards or more, and hung to 
dry on pegs projecting from holes made in the adobe 
walls that border the sidewalks (pl. 40, a). Jaspe 
patterns are more often worked into the warp thread 
than the weft, but they not infrequently appear in 
both. Other textile pieces, especially scarves, are 
made from jaspe threads, and are given patterns of 
striking white dashes upon a dark blue field. 
Because of the custom of resetting a loom with 
new warp thread by tying it on to the remaining 
ends of the old, the basic pattern of the warp is 
generally preserved on any given loom. This tends 
to encourage, on a mechanical basis, the strong con- 
servatism which is so characteristic of these people, 
Ladinos as well as Indians. 
Huipil cloth is woven on a large scale on foot 
looms in those regions from which stick-loom weav- 
ing has almost disappeared. This is particularly true 
of the Quezaltenango—Totonicapan—Momostenango 
region. All three of those towns are important pro- 
ducers of huipil cloth. The first two mentioned are 
noted for intricate all-over patterns, with various 
figures and colors, obtained from draw looms having 
great numbers of heddles. Dr. Lila O’Neale and 
I counted over 100 on one in Quezaltenango, In 
such cases, younger members of a weaving family 
generally assist by drawing up the complex groups 
of heddles, which have long strings attached to them 
for the purpose. 
Foot-loom cotton textiles other than skirts and 
huipils include belts, head bands, aprons, napkins, 
sutes, and sheets of cloth having miscellaneous 
uses. (For distribution of these manufactures, see 
map 16.) Small foot looms are employed in weaving 
belts and head bands, and these are sometimes 
operated by women as well as men (pl. 40, c). 
The chief vendors of cotton textiles of all sorts 
are the itinerant Chichicastenango merchants. In 
the Quezaltenango—Totonicapan region there are also 
many vendors, especially in Quezaltenango, Totonica- 
pan, San Cristébal, and San Francisco. 
WOOL 
Nearly all weaving of wool yarn is done on foot 
looms, of the type employed in weaving skirts, and, 
