Totonicapán, Guatemala
One of the smaller departments in Guatemala, Totonicapán is heavily populated and intensely farmed. Indigenous textile-related activities include wool processing and jaspe or ikat tying, dying and weaving.
Sheep roam much of the mountain area around Momostenango, a small isolated wool production center. Photo by Kathleen Mossman Vitale 2005.
Jesus Ajanel Vicente runs a shop in Panajachel that specializes in wool products from Momostenango where he was raised. Photo by Paul G. Vitale 2005.
María Estela Puac Tzunun, 17, a resident of rural Chuculjuyup, has been tying jaspe patterns since she was 12, and now does it from memory rather than following a paper pattern. Photo by Kathleen Mossman Vitale 2005.