Chile · Backstrap and stake-loom camelid-fiber weaving

Aymara Camelid-Fiber Weaving (Arica y Parinacota / Tarapacá)

Tejido Aymara

The shearing, spinning, and backstrap- or four-stake-loom weaving of llama and alpaca fiber into aguayos (large blankets), ponchos, wakas (woven sashes), and a rich further named repertoire — axo, lijllia, fajas, incuñas, panamantas, culebrillas, costales, chuspas — practiced by Aymara women across Chile's Arica y Parinacota, Tarapacá, and Antofagasta regions, on the high Andean altiplano bordering Bolivia and Peru. Rooted in a documented pre-Hispanic tradition variously dated to more than 900 to over 1,300 years of continuous practice, the craft remains directly embedded in daily pastoral life: named weaver Teófila Challapa, 59, of Cariquima near the Chile-Bolivia border, learned as a girl from her grandmother's own instruction — 'Spin the threads, girl' — while herding llamas and alpacas across grasslands more than 11,500 feet above sea level, and continues today to shear her animals each October, participate in the February floreo ritual tying wool flowers and pompoms to camelids in thanks to Pachamama (Mother Earth), and offer a direct prayer before beginning each new piece of weaving: 'Mother Earth, give me strength, because you're the one who will produce, not me.'

Risk level: Vulnerable · Not Applicable — no UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage inscription exists for this craft at time of writing

Geographic Center: Arica y Parinacota and Tarapacá regions, with further presence in Antofagasta, northern Chile, specifically including the altiplano communities of Cariquima and Colchane near the Bolivia border
Community / Ethnic Group: Aymara, an indigenous people whose broader population — estimated at 3 million — spans the shared border regions of Chile, Peru, and Bolivia
Estimated Origin: Documented sources place the tradition's origin between more than 900 years (per CraftEncyclopedia) and roughly 1,300 years (per Atacama Andina) of continuous practice, tracing to pre-Columbian times when Aymara women first began alpaca husbandry and subsequently developed textile production for both barter and sale; the Metropolitan Museum of Art's own scholarly citation (Adelson and Tracht, 1983) further corroborates the specific warp-faced weaving tradition's pre-Hispanic origin; traditionally, Aymara farmers inhabited fertile ravines and pre-mountain valleys of the intermediate depression, while llama and alpaca herders occupied the higher altiplano and puna zones above 4,000 meters
Cultural Function: Textiles function as a direct expression of Aymara identity, cosmology, and relationship with Pachamama (Mother Earth); Teófila Challapa's own documented practice includes offering direct prayer before beginning new work, and participating in the annual February floreo ritual — tying wool flowers and pompoms to camelids specifically to identify them as property and give thanks to Pachamama for abundance — and in a further ritual ahead of August 1's Pachamama Day, in which a specially woven mantle is used to hold offered grains and wool as thanks and requests for prosperity; historically, the Aymara's main traditional dress itself centered on a simple woven belt functioning as a symbol of social status; many traditional motifs, colors, and symbols documented across the craft's repertoire continue to be actively used in ritual context by contemporary communities
Primary Materials: Camelid fiber, most commonly from alpaca and llama, and historically also vicuña, raised by the weavers' own families
Primary Tools: The backstrap loom and the four-stake loom, both specifically documented as pre-Hispanic weaving technologies still in active use
Process Overview: Aymara women shear camelid fiber from their own family-raised llamas and alpacas each October, clean and hand-spin it into skeins using fingertip technique, and weave it on a backstrap or four-stake loom — both pre-Hispanic technologies — into aguayos, ponchos, wakas, and a rich further repertoire of named traditional garments and household textiles, incorporating complex, multi-color striped compositions carrying inherited ancestral symbolism; a tradition spanning between roughly 900 and 1,300 years of continuous practice across Chile's Arica y Parinacota, Tarapacá, and Antofagasta regions, embedded directly within pastoral daily life and active ritual observance, as documented in rich first-person detail through named contemporary weaver Teófila Challapa of Cariquima, near the Bolivia border.
Traditional Applications: Aguayos (large blankets), ponchos, wakas (woven sashes), and a further rich named repertoire of traditional garments and household textiles (axo, lijllia, fajas, incuñas, panamantas, culebrillas, costales, chuspas), used in daily pastoral life and active ritual observance
Contemporary Applications: A significant contemporary craft-commerce product spanning both traditional, ritually-embedded output and a distinct, more market-oriented innovative production line (shawls, ruanas, foot coverings); textile sale income directly supports family and community economic needs
Notable Practitioners: Teófila Challapa, 59, weaver, Cariquima, near the Chile-Bolivia border, learned from her grandmother roughly fifty years prior to her documented 2023 profile, extensively quoted in international wire-service journalism (Associated Press, Voice of America) regarding her weaving practice, prayer ritual, and the February floreo ceremony
Key References: Associated Press (María Teresa Hernández), 'Inspired by llamas, the desert and Mother Earth, these craftswomen weave sacred textiles' (Teófila Challapa profile); Voice of America, 'Inspired by Llamas and Mother Earth, Chilean Craftswomen Weave Sacred Textiles'; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 'Textile - Aymara' (citing Adelson and Tracht, 1983); CraftEncyclopedia, 'Aymara textiles'; Cordillerana, 'Aymara weavers, heirs of an ancient tradition'; Marca Chile, 'Ten handicraft pieces to get to know chile from north to south'; GoChile, 'Atacama Andina - Aymara Textile Craft and Culture'
Verification Status: Desk-Researched — Needs Practitioner Verification

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