Weaving Yarn, Weaving Cultures, Weaving Lives:
A Circle of Women in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Photography by Tom Feher and text by Judith Lockhart-Radtke.
Forward by Lila Downs.

The books are here! A wonderful portrayal of the lives of the women of Miramar with whom we have worked for over eight years. The book is a way to say thank you to the women and to all of you who a have supported our programs.   

"In this book, when I see these women make dolls, learn to read and weave, it makes me smile from within. This interconnection between creation and stories, symbols and yarns makes me hopeful and happy...Listen to the story the textiles of Miramar will tell you. This book will bring you closer to their simple and natural vision of life and beauty."  Lila Downs

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REVIEWS:

Window into Another World: The Women Weavers of Miramar, Mexico

Feb 25, 2011 Robert Adler, Suite101

This book tells the inspiring story of how the Circle of Women in the U.S. and the isolated women weavers of Miramar, Mexico changed each other's lives.

The Mixtec pueblo of Guadalupe Miramar, high in Mexico's Sierra Madre, is a place whose isolation almost guarantees anonymity. Who lives there, how they survive and what stories they can tell seem destined to remain locked in the mountains.

Yet neither the canyons of the Sierra Madre nor the gulfs between cultures kept the women weavers of Miramar and members of The Circle of Women in the United States and the city of Oaxaca from meeting, connecting and, over the course of years, transforming each other's lives. Weaving Yarn, Weaving Cultures, Weaving Lives tells the story of that remarkable transformation.

Many people with useful skills, good ideas and fine intentions come to Oaxaca, one of Mexico's most impoverished states, to try to help. All too often their efforts end in frustration. They return home with stories about how Oaxacans resist change, while the people they tried to help shake their heads at the foreigners' ignorance of their real needs, naïveté and arrogance.

A few, however, know or learn that change takes time, patience and trust; and above all the willingness to work face-to-face and side-by-side as equals. As one of the indigenous weavers whose stories appears in this book announced, "Don't tell me you have a solution if I haven't told you I have a problem."

The weavers of Miramar are distinguished by working three lines of color simultaneously, a complex technique that allows them to weave a myriad of intricate patterns. Similarly, this book intertwines three complementary strands--the often heartrending stories of the individual weavers, the story of the intense and sustained mutual efforts it took to help them, and the beauty of their weavings.

Helping the weavers of Miramar move from poverty, illiteracy and dependency to self-sufficiency, empowerment, and dignity took many steps. One area described in detail is how these women, many of whom spoke only their indigenous language and could not even sign their names, learned to speak, read and write Spanish. Crucially, it was the weavers themselves who identified illiteracy as a central problem, and it took sustained and creative work by the Circle of Women to create a program that met the weavers' unique circumstances and needs.

Invited into these interlocking circles of women was Tom Feher, whose understated yet deeply perceptive photographs do much to help tell the story of the village of Miramar, its mountain setting and, of course, the weavers and their work.

Weaving Yarn, Weaving Cultures, Weaving Lives will be a delight and resource to anyone interested in weaving, in other cultures, or in philanthropy. Far beyond that, however, it tells a truly touching story of how people separated by vast cultural differences were able to connect, learn from one another and create something of great value and beauty.

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The Weavers of Miramar.
By Stan Gotlieb and RealOaxaca.com

In 1979 and 1980, I set aside my other work to join a group whose job was to raise money in support of a major grass-roots organizing effort.  Plans had been announced to turn western South Dakota, and particularly the Black Hills, into a “nuclear energy park”.  Uranium was to be open-pit mined, smelted, refined, and burned as fuel in a scheme that would produce large quantities of electricity, which would then be pumped into the national grid in Omaha using high-density direct transmission.

The international corporations that would profit from this effort had no concern for the health, welfare, or quality of life of the people of the area, most of whom were Oglala Souix.  The resistance to this project was led by some of the more famous members of the Wounded Knee occupation, operating from Souix Falls as the Black Hills Alliance.  Effectively, we were under the leadership of the Dakota chapter of the American Indian Movement, and they were not always kind, or clear as to what they wanted from us.

An arduous and often tumultuous 18 months of effort ensued, ending in a huge encampment near Ellsworth air force base, followed by the passage of a voter initiative forbidding any kind or phase of nuclear development in South Dakota without approval of a statewide ballot referendum.

Along the way, we learned many important lessons, perhaps the most valuable of which was that nobody appreciates help that they have not asked for.  It’s a lesson which many in the “non governmental organization” business have yet to learn, and when not learned results in wasted money, time, and effort.  It is a principle that is solidly incorporated into the structure and staff of the Circle of Women.

Based in Boston and Oaxaca, the Circle started out as a funder – through micro-loans – of a small group of weavers in Guadalupe Miramar, a community perched on a mountainside above the clouds in the Mixteca Alta, a couple of hours from Tlaxiaco.  Through the years, carefully practicing “leading by listening and obeying”, the project has expanded into a marketing organization serving the women weavers of Miramar, a literacy project which among other things has enabled the weavers to become their own administrators, and a health initiative bringing much needed knowledge and improved practices to the community.

“Weaving Yarn, Weaving Cultures, Weaving Lives: A Circle of Women in Miramar, Oaxaca, Mexico”, with text by Judith Lockhart-Radtke and photos by Tom Feher, tells the story through the words of those involved. There is warmth in this tale, and profound respect for the women whose lives are chronicled here.  There will be two presentations coming up: at the home of Judith and Warren Radtke, Jose Vasconcelos 104 (near the Sanchez Pasqua market) from 5 to 7 p.m. on the 23d of January; and at 6:00  on the 4th of February at the Textile Museum.  Weavings will be on display and for sale on both occasions, along with signed copies of the book.

Order your copy today. $50 includes shipping. Enter "book" in the comments section.