In the northern part of Argentina, in the province of Salta, lies the community of the Wichi called “Kilómetro 6”. Its name comes from the fact that it is so far north from Tartagal, the largest town near the parish. It was at this location that we spoke to Lucrecia, a member of a group of Wichi women who have organized to sell their crafts and more.
In order to understand the importance of this initiative, we must assume that women are discriminated against in the workplace and that there is no shared responsibility for caring. But patriarchal structures become more noticeable when we conduct an intersectional analysis of vulnerabilities, as Argentine writer, anthropologist, and feminist activist Rita Segato puts it. In addition, we talk about the region with the greatest economic problems in the country, the indigenous people who are most discriminated against, especially women.
However, these vulnerabilities, as expressed by Argentine anthropologist Dolores Juliano, are often the most appropriate contexts for women to activate collective entitlement strategies. The tool used in this case is one of the ancestral skills of this population, the use of the chaguar. The finding and gathering of the chaguar plant for textile use, as well as the process of fiber extraction, spinning, dyeing and subsequent weaving are almost exclusively women’s activities. One of the star products are the famous bags called Yicas.
Crafts have always been women’s work in the community, passed down from generation to generation. Although, as Lucrecia claims, it has never been a publicly recognized profession, there are no teachers in any school, nor are there any who receive a salary for the transmission of this technique. Because of this, they feel that official studies are being imposed on minors, since primary and secondary education is compulsory and there is little time left for the transmission of this knowledge, which is outside of official education.
However, most young women in the community do not work. On the one hand, community norms are still averse to women working in public spaces outside the home. Then the pregnancy rate among teenagers is very high, so they have to take care of jobs from a young age. The Statistical Yearbook of the Salta Observatory on Violence Against Women reported that out of a total of 12,939 deliveries in 2018, 2,922 were to girls and adolescents aged between 10 and 19, 22.6% of the total. And they are discriminated against in the labor market.
Craft is one of the ways indigenous peoples claim their culture, their traditions, their history. Therefore, it is very important that it is narrated or woven by women’s voices.
Some choose this option of dedicating themselves exclusively to care, while others do not. Those who don’t look for ways to conserve their own financial resources. Some sell home-baked bread, others fall back on their craft, on those “small jobs”, as they call them, that their grandmothers made and which they always watched. This is the option of the group of artisans from the municipality of Kilómetro 6. But one of the big problems they face is how to sell their products. In Tartagal they say they don’t value their handicrafts, there is so much supply that they have to lower prices and most of them trade their handicrafts directly for food.
A few months ago, thanks to the mediation of the Municipality of Tartagal, this group of artisans gained access to a place in the Salta handicraft market, where there is a greater influx of tourists. This room allowed them to bring products from their companions, as well as other crafts from their community.
You can see the house from the outside and it looks like another artisan place, but it hides a big resistance process. Lucrecia said she regrets the few job opportunities in the community as she believes in the potential of her companions, potential seen in the “small jobs”: in the creativity of shapes, colors, drawings and more patterns, new designs . They all create impossible balances to continue caring and producing their craft.
From my perspective, the relationship between crafts and groups of indigenous women is much more than an economic resource, it is a way of making claims inside and outside their communities. For them it means flexible work that they can organize themselves, but which gives them the opportunity to create female workspaces, where they strengthen support networks, where they can share their experiences at home. And outside of the community, craft is one of the ways indigenous peoples claim their culture, their traditions, their history. Therefore, it is very important that it is narrated or woven by women’s voices.
The community project continues and they themselves say they do it for their colleagues and for their daughters because they see that they need more job options, more open doors for their “small jobs” and hopefully can keep one for themselves.
Ana Fernandez Quiroga She is a gender expert, doctor at the Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, and specialist in sexist violence against indigenous women and resistance processes.
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