A woman who in the mid-1960s slept on the ground for two and a half years in a remote village of northern Jalisco while learning about weaving, yarn painting and beadwork from indigenous women has been honored by a national radio station.
In a ceremony held in the Degollado Theater on November 15, art historian Acelia Garcia de Weigand was presented with the “Woman of 2011” award in the field of culture by Radio Mujer, which is broadcast in 386 Mexican cities.
Garcia is author of the book “Chaquira de los Indígenas Huicholes” (Huichol Beadwork), based on observations and collections she made during the 30 months she and her late husband archaeologist Phil Weigand lived with the Huicholes in the remote village of San Sebastián Teponahuastlán, Jalisco. Nowadays the Huicholes refer to themselves as Wixáricas (pronounced wee-SHA-ree-kas), which, says Garcia, means “us.”
“I was shocked,” said the researcher when she heard about the award. “I thought they were kidding.” These sentiments echo Garcia’s surprise in 1968 when Southern Illinois University Carbondale asked her to teach a hands-on course in Huichol art techniques (weaving, yarn painting and beadwork) even though she didn’t have a degree at that time. Her expertise, in fact, goes back to her childhood when she learned handicrafts in her village of Tepec, Amacueca. Later, in San Sebastián, she was able to deeply analyze local techniques and then apply this knowledge to the beadwork collections of Carl Lumholtz, Leon Diguet and Robert Zingg as well as her own personal collection which began in 1965 and continues to this day.
Garcia says the purpose of her book, which is an abridged translation of her master’s thesis at State University, N.Y., is to prove “that these designs and techniques belong to the Huicholes of Jalisco and Nayarit, Mexico and to make sure no one else lays claim to them.”
Garcia went to live in San Sebastián in 1965, originally to cook for her husband Phil Weigand who was working on his Ph.D. on land use by the Huicholes. She spent her days with the women, as was the custom, and became interested in how the local designs were being transferred back and forth between weaving, cross-stitching and beadwork. “I was so enthralled by the work of these very intelligent women – none of whom had ever gone to school – that I forgot all about how miserable it was sleeping on the ground. I discovered to my surprise, that beadwork is very mathematical.”
Asked about living conditions in the village, she reminisced: “Well, we had a down sleeping bag with more fleas in it than feathers and we slept on the ground and we didn’t mind. We were so happy and so interested in the culture! Yes, we started out sleeping under the stars, but pretty soon the president of the community came along and gave us a “room” – with no roof – in an abandoned church.”
While her husband studied the use of the land, Garcia studied the women and their handicrafts. “Most of the people who wrote about the Huicholes focused on peyote rituals and sensationalism, but in my book there is no sensationalism. I talk about transitions of techniques, how the colors, the designs, the weaving, the cross-stitching changed. You know, cross-stitching done by a Mestizo woman like me and by a Huichol might look the same on top, but if you turn it over, it looks very different. I could see how imaginative they were, so smart!”
Garcia’s study has never ended. “This is the fifth generation I am studying. Now one of my sources is a female officer at the Puente Grande Prison and she is doing beadwork for this collection: she and her children do excellent work.”
Garcia’s first collection is now housed at the Museo de las Artes Populares in Guadalajara, San Felipe 211 at Pino Suarez. It’s open Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can also purchase a well-made documentary DVD in English on Acelia Garcia and Huichol beadwork from Explora Mexico, (33) 1086-4428, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..