015 我的秘鲁织工生涯

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My name is Delia, and I am a 37-year-old weaver from Chinchero, Peru

我叫迪莉娅，是一名来自秘鲁钦切罗的37岁织布工。

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My village is high in the Andes, located over one

thousand feet above the Urubamba River.

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The view is breathtaking, but what makes Chinchero unique is that here

even though it is now 2008, we are preserving ancient traditions.

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In fact, Chinchero is just outside the city of Cuzco, which was

once the center of the mighty Inca Empire.

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As a traditional master weaver

作为一名传统织布大师，

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I have the privilege and responsibility of teaching my skills to the

younger generation, uniting the past with the future.

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In fact, I'm waiting for Carla, a neighbor's daughter

to come and take her weaving lesson.

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For many women like me, weaving is not just a craft but a way of life

对许多像我这样的女性来说，织布不仅是一门手艺，更是一种生活方式。

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Peruvian textiles have a rich history that can be traced as

far back as 2500 BC, long before the Incas.

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By the time of the Inca Empire, in the 1500s, hand-weaving

was widely practiced, even by men.

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The patterns woven into our textiles have always told stories, so our

history was not just expressed orally but was also woven into cloth.

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More recently our weaving tradition was sadly being lost as many village

people moved to cities, seeking money and a more modern way of life.

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But some, like me, have stayed in the village to

keep our traditional culture alive.

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In 1996 a weaving center was established here, where women, young and

old, can come to learn our unique weaving skills.

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It is called the Center for Traditional Textiles, and I

started to work and teach here in 2000.

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The mission of the center is to celebrate the history and traditions of

Peruvian textiles and to educate others about them.

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After the women weavers gain expertise, their work is

sold at the center or at local markets.

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This allows the women to gain financial independence

or contribute to their family's income.

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Practice is a must for good weavers, for we do not rely on fancy

high-speed machines to do the work for us.

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Our tools are our fingers — mostly our thumbs — and the yarn we weave comes

from either alpaca or vicuna, animals that resemble small llamas.

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The alpaca are especially important to our way of life because in addition

to their wool, they also supply meat, fertilizer, fuel, and leather.

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When I was a child, I often tended our sheep and alpaca

小时候，我经常照看我们家的羊和羊驼。

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As I watched them graze, I practiced weaving jakima strips

看着它们吃草时，我就练习编织窄幅织带，

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small pieces that all the children in my village make

to practice different textile patterns.

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This practice prepared me to learn more complicated patterns when I was

seventeen and began my lessons with an older weaver.

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Alpaca and vicuna wool can be many shades of brown, cream, and gray

羊驼和小羊驼的毛有各种深浅不一的棕色、米色和灰色，

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but we also dye the wool using natural sources, such as cochineal

beetles, which live on prickly pear cactus.

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These beetles, when dried and crushed, yield a dye that

makes our yarn a brilliant color of red.

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We also use eucalyptus leaves and beans to make dyes

我们也用桉树叶和豆子制作染料，

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and the vibrant colors from these plants range from pink

to different shades of brown and green.

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How bright or deep the color is depends on the color of the plant

and how long you leave the wool in the dye bath.

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Our weavers use a backstrap loom, which is very

easy to use and carry around.

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Whenever I start a new textile, I make a new loom!

每当我开始织一块新布料时，我都会制作一台新的织机！

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First, I measure out the yarn for the warp, which consists of the

threads that will run lengthwise in my textile.

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Then, I tie the warp to something immobile, such

as a tree or a stake in the ground.

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For smaller textile pieces, some women use their own bodies by stretching

out a leg and tying the warp to their foot.

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The other end of the warp has a strap that is

tied around the weaver's waist.

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Then, I interlace threads of yarn horizontally across

the warp to create the pattern.

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The horizontal threads are called the woof

这些横向的线被称为纬线。

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With all the different colors of yarn, we can make

lots of patterns in our textiles.

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For example, there is a very special Incan pattern called the eye

例如，有一种非常特别的印加图案叫做“眼睛”，

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which can be combined with other patterns to represent many things, from

the burning of the sun to a gentle whirlpool in a meandering river.

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Each textile tells a story about our mountains, rivers, animals, and

villages—sometimes even about the weaver herself.

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Because patterns and colors are chosen by the weaver

to make each textile distinctive,

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dark colors may mean the weaver is sad, and bright colors may reflect

the happiness she felt as she was weaving.

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The most important family textile is the manta

a cape that has many functions—

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from hauling fruit and firewood to carrying babies on mothers' backs

从搬运水果和柴火，到将婴儿背在母亲背上。

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Each village has its own unique manta pattern

每个村庄都有自己独特的曼塔图案，

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so when others see you, they recognize what village you come

from by the colorful design of your manta.

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When I weave outside, I sit on a manta, and whatever I am weaving

whether it is a belt, a hat, or a skirt,

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I put a lot of time and effort into each piece

我都会在每一件作品上投入大量的时间和精力。

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Market day is special for the women of Chinchero, and we like to dress in

our traditional handmade clothes when we go to the market.

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We wear colorful jackets, braid our hair, and wear

our hats, called monteras, proudly.

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In our village everyone wears a montera with a round top

在我们村里，每个人都戴着圆顶的蒙特拉帽。

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The brim of the hat curves toward its center, and inside the brim

is a secret fold where we can store our money.

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When a tourist stops by and purchases one of my textiles

I just pop the money into my hat!

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The weaving center helps with the sale of our work, but it

is up to each weaver to negotiate a price.

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To be honest, I don't make a lot of money, only

about three hundred dollars a year.

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But I am satisfied when I see how my weaving has made someone happy

但当我看到我的编织作品让别人开心时，我就很满足了。

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Oh, here is Carla! Someday she will make our village proud and weave

beautiful textiles that will tell the story of her generation.