Ines Hinojosa Uzquiano

Bolivia

Year(s) attended: 2007, 2008, 2009

Organización Cheque Oitedie in partnership with Earth Bound, Inc.

Woven Grass Bags

While many of us know the bromeliad for its luscious red and magenta flowers, the Ayoreo tribe of Central Bolivia knows the plant for its spiny leaves, which yield a tough fiber the women weave into bags for collecting and transporting food and other objects.

Ethnobotanist Ines Hinojosa Uzquiano is a steward of this craft - passed for generations between Ayoreo mothers and daughters - through her work with the members of the cooperative, Organización Cheque Oitedie. She has led the Ayoreo community in transplanting the bromeliads from savannahs (which were in the process of being transformed into pastures) into the artisans’ own backyards. The fibers are colored naturally and spun into threads of appropriate thickness to be made into bags or hats. The bags themselves can be small and delicate or large and robust. The hats are colorful.