Chile · Ritual-harvested vine-fiber basketry
Cestería en Quilineja
The weaving of baskets and brooms from quilineja (Luzuriaga radicans), a fine-rooted evergreen climbing vine native to Chile and Argentina, harvested by Chiloé artisans deep in the archipelago's forests, where they seek out the plant tangled high in tree trunks. The gathering itself is inseparable from a documented ritual practice: artisans perform a ceremony asking the forest spirits for permission before extracting the vine, and always carry a clove of garlic specifically to ward off the Trauco, a feared figure of Chilote mythology — a small, footless, axe-wielding forest dweller whose very clothing, including his distinctive conical hat, is woven from quilineja itself, and who is said to disguise himself as an ordinary bundle of the plant's dried stems in order to sneak undetected into homes. Quilineja basketry sits within Chiloé's broader forest-fiber weaving tradition, alongside boqui pil-pil (used in Mapuche-descended basketry producing both functional baskets and decorative bird and tree forms) and ñocha, sustained across the archipelago's communities through collective family transmission.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not Applicable — no UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage inscription exists for this specific craft at time of writing
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