Maguey Journey: Discovering Textiles in Guatemala

Glossary

agave maguey aldea village or hamlet alforja (argana or arganilla [eastern term]) saddlebag aliso alder; the cambium (inner bark) is used for a red-brown dye Altiplano high plateau; western highlands AMo Asociación de Mujeres olopenses Arawak South American tribe ayudante bus assistant backstrap loom loom made of sticks, with a strap that goes around the weaver’s back to control tension bolsa de mania eastern term for a loom-woven bag bomba pyrotechnic (firework) cabo tool for scraping maguey (San Juan Cotzal) cachelpa matate (Concepción Tutuapa) carista rectangular bag (olopa) carrizo wicker or cane for basket making che’ch (chijute) Furcraea quicheensis Trel. cinta (cincha) cinch: strap that goes under a horse’s belly; loom-woven or ply-split darned cirenuela small, handheld spinning wheel (torno de mano) cohetería fireworks shop conacaste taravilla wood (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) corte woman’s wraparound “skirt” costal sack finger-knitting adaptation of knitting, where the fingers move loops over three sticks (San Marcos la Laguna) Glossary 146 GLoSSARY fixed-vertical loom loom identical to a backstrap loom, except it is vertical and pegged into the ground (San Juan Sacatepéquez) gamarrón horse halter (eastern term) glinca round bag (olopa) guachipilín taravilla and spinning-wheel wood (Diphysa robinioides) hamaca hammock henequén Agave fourcroydes horizontal loom a loom consisting of either two forked sticks or four sticks “planted” in the ground, with crossbeams, so that the warps lie horizontally for weaving (olopa) huipil Maya woman’s blouse interlacing single-element “weave” used to make bag straps ixtle Nahuatl term for unspun maguey fibers jáquima horse halter (western term) jarcia term for working with maguey knitting single-element technique using needles la brea warm pine pitch for making bombas Ladino a person of mixed blood who speaks Spanish, follows Spanish customs, and wears European-style clothing lazo rope linking technique commonly used for making hammocks and bags in Chiapas, Mexico, and San Andrés Huista, Huehuetenango; can be a single-element technique or two single-element technique looping single-element technique; variations include simple, figure-eight, cross-knit, and single interconnected machucador pounding tool; wood mallet (San Pablo and San Marcos la Laguna) mania de palo scraping tool (Comapa) masa cornmeal matate a small bag made with linking or figure-eight and worntumpline method, with the strap across the user’s forehead and the bag resting on the back; looser construction than a morral mecapal tumpline mecate Beschorneria albiflora Matuda (Concepción Tutuapa) milpa cornfield mordant dye fixative morral small bag made with looping, knit, or crochet techniques Nahuatl Aztec language Glossary 147 occidente western highlands oriente eastern highlands palo three-legged, five-inch-wide or so length of wood with a piece of leather, smooth piece of tire, inner tube, or old shoe bottom attached to the top; serves as a “leg” by setting it on the ground next to the spinner or on their lap parenquima (sacador) term used by osborne (1965, 175) for the tool used to separate the fibers from the pulp of the maguey leaf penca maguey leaf perraje (rebozo) shawl petate mat; woven from lake reeds or palm leaves pita spun maguey fiber pita floja soft unspun fiber from the Bromelia plant; also used by osborne (1965, 248) to refer to unspun maguey fibers plain weave two element (warp and weft); also called tabby, where each weft passes alternately over and under successive warp units (Emery 1966, 76) ply-split braiding (split-ply) technique where the weft passes diagonally between the ply of the warp ply-split darning (split-ply) technique where the weft passes perpendicularly between the ply of the warp pyramid knot ornamental knot having a pyramid shape; the basis for bag straps (Graumont and Hensel 1970, 320–321) quintal approximately one hundred pounds rebozo (perraje) shawl red cargo net rodillera “kilt” worn by men in certain areas (San Marcos la Laguna) ronrón common name for beetle or weevil that eats maguey plants sacador (parenquima) term used for the tool used to separate the fibers from the pulp of the maguey leaf sak-chi Mayan for maguey (all species except Furcraea quicheensis Trel. and Beschorneria albiflora Matuda) selvage finished edge sembrador a small loom-woven bag used for holding corn kernels during planting (San Juan Sacatepéquez) servilleta small piece of woven fabric used for carrying food and other items 148 GLoSSARY sisal Agave sisalana sivadera simple looped bag...