Weaving for Justice textile sale is Oct. 29-30 at NMSU

Textile donor recalls her family’s history with Maya textiles and cooperatives

By Liana Laughlin, Weaving for Justice Textile Donor

I met weaver Walter “Chip” Morris (author of “Living Maya” and other books) as a child. He would come to the house (in Chiapas, Mexico) with very fine textiles, and then he would tell us stories about what each design in the weavings meant, and something about the weavers who had made them. My parents were fascinated by what he had to share and wanted to support his work in any way they could. They bought many, many of his weavings. They were thrilled when he created a cooperative where the women weavers could sell their work to the growing tourist trade. He made sure that the weavings sold were of the highest quality. I too would go into the cooperative to buy weavings.

One could feel the racism in San Cristóbal against the Maya, so it felt important to support them, and it still does. We donated the weavings (for the fundraiser) when we both had to downsize and what better place than Weaving for Justice and the Maya Educational Foundation. They recognize and appreciate high quality weaving; they care where the piece was made and the date of the piece. Not only that, but the proceeds go toward empowering Maya women through education.

My mother worked for years as a grant writer for FOMMA, a woman’s cooperative which worked hard to empower women through feminist plays which they put on in in rural hamlets. They gave literacy lessons and helped the Maya women learn work skills as they transitioned from subsistence living in their villages into the Ladino city. Many of these women were kicked out of their communities after having been raped. They needed childcare for the first time in their lives, so FOMMA provided childcare. Knowing their stories, it has felt especially important to us to allow Maya women the opportunity to get a college education, if possible, while at the same time support their weaving.

Liana Laughlin’s parents are Weaving for Justice donors Robert and Miriam Laughlin. Her godfather, godfather, Romin Teratol of Zinacantán, Chiapas, Mexico, became Bob Laughlin’s partner in Laughlin’s research on the Tsotsil language of Zinacantán. Bob Laughlin went on to become a renowned linguist of Mayan languages, while Miriam Laughlin became a writer of short stories about life in highland Chiapas. Teratol’s son, Xun, is now director of Sna Jtz’ibajom (House of the Writer), an organization of Maya writers in San Cristóbal de Las Casas which mentors university students who will benefit from the Weaving for Justice fundraiser.