Abelina Melo Huaman. Abelina is in her mid-teens. She grew up in Patacancha with her three sisters, Paulina, Rosalia and Nicolasa, her father Lucio, and her mother Isabel. She is now studying communications at the high school. Abelina first learned to spin yarn at age seven and began to weave by the time she was twelve. She prefers to weave rather than spin and enjoys weaving fabric for skirts, the bands for hats (montera watos) and pasadizos. When she weaves she chooses designs (pallay) inspired by native plants and animals, including llamas, condors, ducks, cats, the wallata bird and a variety of food plants. Abelina’s favorite foods are the fruit of the oba plant, apples and bread. Her favorite pastime is playing soccer.

 

 

 Agripina Quispe Mamani Agripina has lived in Kelkanka her whole life despite the fact that she hates the rain there.  Summers are very rainy and cold in Kelkanka, but the work of taking care of fields and animals necessitates that Agripina spend much of her time outside.  She prefers the drier, sunnier climate of winter, a more pleasant climate for sitting outside and weaving or spinning yarn.  Golón, the intricately embroidered designs that line the bottoms of their skirts, is Agripina's favorite textile to make.

 

Albertina Yupanqui Cjuro
Biography coming soon!

 

 

 Alejandrina Quispe Monarga.  Alejandrina, 28, has two daughters and one son and lives in Patacancha surrounded by her entire extended family. Alejandrina is the oldest of four. Her husband, Narciso, is a construction worker and builds homes in Patacancha. Alejandrina is originally from a village called Rumira, located opposite Patacancha on the other side of the Patacancha river. Alejandrina enjoys weaving figurative designs and includes them in everything she weaves, from pasadizos (table runners) to chumpis (belts). She spends much of her time watching over the family’s sheep and her children help her when they are not in school.

 

 Alicia Yupanqui Huaman Alicia is constantly busy with her six children, her sheep, and her fields.  Originally from Patacancha, she moved to Kelkanka after marrying her husband, a native of the town. He works the Inca Trail once or twice a year to earn money for the family.  She has never been, but one day would like to travel to Machu Picchu.  When asked if she weaving is fun or something she enjoys doing, she smirks, “Weaving is the only thing they teach us when we are young, so we are the only ones who know how to weave clothes for the family.  Are our husbands going to do this work?  What choice do we have?” Although she admits she likes weaving images of people and birds best, for Alicia weaving is a craft done out of necessity.

 

 

Benikna Poco  Benikna is from Huilloc, a town just below Patacancha and about two hours below Kelkanka.  She has four children.  She devotes her days to caring for her children and tending her fields, and grazing her animals, a task that usually permits her to weave on her portable backstrap loom.  Weaving is difficult work, she explains, and leaves her back and body aching after long periods at her loom.

 

 

Cecilia Monagra Medina  Biography coming soon!

 

Cipriana Quispe Medina  Cipriana learned to weave by watching her mother at a young age.  At age six, her mother began teaching her to weave specific designs and styles.  Cipriana explains that these days, children are not taught to weave until they are fifteen years old.  Weaving is an activity that children enjoy and that helps them generate an income by working with organizations like Awamaki.  The women in Kelkanka saw that once their young children could weave and earn money, they no longer wanted to go to school.  Because education has become a priority for the people of Kelkanka, weaving is a skill taught only when children have finished school.

 

 

Cipriana Quispe Meloc
Biography coming soon!

 

 

Cristina Sullkapuma Puma. Cristina is originally from the high mountain lake community of Challoqocha, and moved to Patacancha when she married her husband, Enrique. She has three children who occupy most of her time: a boy Abram, and two girls, Grimanesa and Marisa. She learned to weave from her mother, who is still in Challaqocha along with the rest of her family. She weaves everything from ch’uspas (bags) to lliqllas (shawls), but she prefers to spend her time weaving chumpis (belts). Cristina is now starting to teach her eldest daughter, Grimanesa, how to weave. Grimanesa is already able to weave numerous designs into her pulseras (bracelets).

Dominga Huaman Quispe  Dominga is one of the youngest members of the Association of Women Weavers Kelkanka.  She has one small baby who she hopes will grow up to finish school and to be an expert weaver.  Like her compañeras, Dominga spends her days tending her sheep, alpaca, llamas, and cows.  Her favorite things to weave are horses and streams.

 

Dominga Yupanqui Quispe. Dominga first learned weaving from her mother when she was thirteen. She has lived her entire life in Patacancha and all of her family still reside in the village. Her favorite activity is weaving but she keeps busy taking care of her large family of seven children, three boys and four girls. The food that she loves more than anything else are soups made from chuño and moray - potatoes preserved in the traditional Incan manner of freeze-drying them in icy water or frozen earth. Dominga’s favorite months of the year are always July and August because the weather is fair and dry, allowing her to spend more time on her weavings.

 

Doris Quispe Cjuro   Biography coming soon! 

 

Elena Mamani Quispe. Elena’s favorite design to weave is the oraganista. This complex, traditional design, usually woven in long strips, is mostly found incorporated into the lliqlla (shawls) and the chumpi (belts). Oraganista is Elena’s specialty and she uses it in whatever weaving she can. When she is not weaving or looking after her children, she loves to cook. Her favorite dish to cook is a main course consisting of lisas, a small tuber, along with cheese, potatoes and onions in a tomato and cilantro broth. Elena’s sister, Placida, is also a member of the weaving association. Although the two sisters are in Patacancha with their husbands, the majority of their family remains in their ancestral village of Kelkanka.

 

Elsa Machaca  Biography coming soon! 

 

Elsa Quispe Mamani Biography coming soon!

 

 

Estefania Machaca Riquelme (Treasurer of the Patacancha association) . Estefania is 29 years old. She lives with her husband, Maximilian and three children: Berta, who is ten, Daniel, who is six and Rebeka, who is three. Estefania has always lived in Patacancha and she only speaks Quechua. She enjoys weaving, cooking and tending her animals.. Lisas, a small tuber, are her favorite food. In a typical day, Estefania gets up at four or five in the morning, spends much of the day weaving, and goes to bed at nine. She learned to weave from her mother at the age of fifteen. As she begins warping a textile she is already planning in her mind what designs she will use. Estefania enjoys weaving all different types of textiles and uses a variety of designs and colors.

 

Eustalkia Huaman Sunia  (president of the Kelkanka association) Eustalkia's husband travels often because of his work on the Inca Trail.  Eustalkia is constantly busy with her six children.  They help her prepare yarn and work in the fields, known as chacrasin Quechua.  When she has a free day, Eustalkia likes to spend time with her animals.

 

 Feliziya Calizaya Machaca. Biography coming soon! 

 

Felicitas Rios Cjuro. Felicitas was born and raised in Challoqocha, a village that is nestled even higher in the Andes than Patacancha, on the banks of a beautiful lake. She now lives in Patacancha with her husband Santos, and her three children. Felicitas has been weaving since she was ten years old and her favorite colors to use are green and red. Her favorite designs (pallay) to incorporate into her textiles are the condor, Inca and alpaca.

 

 

Felicitas Huaman Medina. Felicitas, 13, is the youngest member of the weaving association. She wanted to join the association in order to earn money and to help her family. Her father works at the family farm and in the tourism industry, as a porter. Her mother is a weaver and wove Felicitas´s lliqlla, which is a beautiful textile covered primarily in animal designs of red, white, and green. An avid art student who especially likes to draw, Felicitas currently studies at the local high school in Patacancha and hopes to continue her studies at the university in Cusco. Although still quite young, Felicitas is already thinking of a career as an art teacher. In addition to drawing, Felicitas likes computers and fried chicken and prefers to spend her free time either playing football with her girlfriends or weaving.

 

 

Florencia Huaman Quispe. Awaiting biography

 

 

Fortunata Quispe Quispe. Fortunata is 15 years old and has been a member of Awamaki since its inception. She is a student in Patacancha and likes every subject at school. She also enjoys playing football with her girlfriends in the afternoons and weaving. Fortunata also weaves while tending her family’s cows, sheep, and alpaca. She doesn’t like to depict Tupac Amaru, an Inca leader who revolted against the Spanish, because she thinks he’s “ugly” and doesn’t look attractive in a weaving due to his white clothing. When she has the opportunity, Fortunata likes to go to the market in Urubamba and buy yarn and items for the house. Fortunata has left the valley once, when she went to Arequipa with her brother for a month. She plans to stay in Patacancha and earn a living from her weaving sales.

 

 

Genara Quispe Cruz. Genara, 28, is a native of Patacancha and has lived in the village her entire life. She prefers to be in Patacancha and rarely leaves the community, traveling to Ollantaytambo or Urubamba only when she has shopping to do. Because she didn’t have a mother to teach her, Genera learned weaving from her neighbors at the relatively late age of 15. Now, however, weaving is her favorite pastime. She particularly enjoys weaving chalinas (scarves) and she loves to weave using green – her favorite color. Genera especially likes to incorporate animal designs into her weavings.

 

 

Graciela Quispe Laucata Graciela is one of our youngest and also one of our most talented weavers. She learned her techniques from her mother, Asunta Quispe. Graciela struggles with a language learning disability, but has a very strong and natural tendency for visual art with an acute eye for detail, design and color combination. Graciela had a baby boy in 2008 and lives with her family. Like many other people from the village of Patacancha, she is not certain of her age. She guesses that she is around sixteen years old. Her parents, Asunta and Leocardio, both have wonderful senses of humor. One often hears a lot of laughter in their household and delighted giggles over their grandson. Kennedy Leavens, one of the founders of Awamaki, is madrina (godmother) to Graciela’s son.

 

Gregoria Laucauta Usca  Gregoria was born in Huilloc, a small town about 45 minutes from Ollantaytambo.  She moved to Kelkanka when she was married because her husband had land in the region.  Gregoria rarely visits her parents in Huilloc and prefers to stay in Kelkanka.  Gregoria enjoys weaving and wants to be able to spend more time doing so.  Her favorite designs, or pallay, to weave are animals, especially the condor, the llama, and the Andean goose, or wallata.

 

Gumercinda Paliza Cjuro Awaiting Biography

 

 

Hermenegilda Huaman Sinchi
Awaiting photo and biography

 

 

Igidia Mamani Espinoza  Igidia has lived in Kelkanka her entire life.  Her three children were born there as well.  Her husband works several times a year to earn cash for the family.  When Igidia isn't weaving, she is busy preparing yarn a process that involves washing and shearing sheep and alpaca, cleaning the fleece, and spinning the yarn.  Her favorite food is potato soup.

 

 

Jesusa Quispe Machaca. Jesusa is in her late teens. She lives with her mother, Maria, and her younger siblings: Magdalena, the secretary of the association, Luis Miguel who is ten and Erolohia who is 7. Jesusa likes to do everything, including cooking and cleaning. She was eight years old when she learned to spin and nine when she learned to weave. Jesusa is eloquent on why she likes spinning better than weaving. She says weaving is harder because one has to sit for long periods of time making her back and knees hurt and the strap of the loom is uncomfortable. She likes spinning better because she can move around when she does it. Because there is no adult male in the household, Jesusa’s uncles (her mother’s brothers) help the women tend their fields. Jesusa had her first child in early 2009.

Jesusa Quispe Futuri   Biography coming soon! 

 

Juanita Quispe Quispe. Juanita learned to weave in the traditional manner, by learning from watching her mother. Juanita began to weave pulseras and chumpis and, as she improved, began to make larger textiles and more complicated designs. Juanita’s favorite place to walk to is Ramramayu, a valley above Patacancha. She walks to Ramramayu often because her animals are kept there. Juanita likes to look around her as she walks and, in this way, draws inspiration for her weavings. Juanita enjoys the natural dye workshops with master weaver and dye expert Daniel Soncco. She is fond of dying fibers and appreciates that she is able to improve her dye knowledge and abilities under the guidance of Daniel. She says that without Daniel’s help, the weavers in Patacancha would have to use the dye powders instead of the plants that they collect.

Juliana Mamani QuispeBiography coming soon! 

 

Kintina Usca Mamani
Kintina is 34 years old and has always lived in Patacancha. She is a new member of Awamaki. She has three children and describes them all as “tranquilo”. Kintina left the valley one time to visit Puno and Cajamarca. She found them to be very different from Patacancha and also noticed that their weavings use finer, thinner yarn than the weaving style preferred in Patacancha. Kintina likes to wear anything that is the color red and she prefers to eat natural, healthy food. Kintina enjoys visiting and socializing with her neighbors and delivering food to the men working in the fields.

 

 

Magdalena Quispe Machacca (Secretary of the Patacancha association)
Magdalena is Jesusa’s younger sister. Despite her young age, Magdalena has proved such a dynamic and talented member of the association that she was an obvious choice for the weavers to make Secretary of the Patacancha weaving association. She attends high school full-time and is studying social science. Magdalena first began to weave at the age of ten, learning from her mother, her sister and her aunts. She prefers weaving over spinning, and chooses her pallay designs from what she sees in her dreams. Her favorite thing to do is play soccer – the young women of Patacancha play soccer on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

 

 

Magdalena Cruz Churata
Magdalena, 26, is originally from Patacancha and met her husband there. They are a typical Patacanchan couple; like almost every man in their community, Magdalena’s husband works as a porter on the Inka Trail and, like the majority of women in Patacancha, Magdalena makes artesania (handicrafts) to sell. In addition, she also designs and makes all of her children’s clothes. Magdalena chooses designs based on what they have in the house, such as the cats and cuys (guinea pigs), and also llamas and flowers. When her daughters are older, Magdalena hopes that they will attend high school in Quillabamba. She and her husband are currently enlarging and turning their house into an hospedaje in order to take advantage of increasing tourism in Patacancha. Magdalena has recently learned how to obtain the color pink using natural dye techniques.

 

 

Marcelina Medina Huaman　　Also from Huilloc, Marcelina has been coming to Kelkanka since she was young to work on her family's land.  Her parents died when she was young, so she never visits Huilloc.  Her husband works on the Inca Trail leaving Marcelina busy to care for their sheep and alpaca and to transform their fleece into yarns.

 

Margarita Sinchi Taco
Margarita began learning the weaving tradition from her mother at the age of sixteen. Pulseras are Margarita´s favourite item to weave. Although she is not originally from Patacancha, she has become very close to her husband’s family in Patacancha. Her husband Ignacio is the brother of Basilio, Victoria’s husband.

 

 

Margarita Yupanqui Quispe  Biography coming soon! 

 

 

Maria Machaca Riquelme Biography coming soon! 

 

 

Maria Quispe Usca
Maria grew up in Patacancha and lives with her entire family, as well as the extended family of her husband. Maria’s weavings are typically bright and colorful and showcase her preference for animal designs, such as condors, cats, dogs, and alpacas. Maria’s sister Luzmarina is also a member of the weaving association.

 

 

Mercedes Sinchi Taco Biography coming soon! 

 

Nicolasa Melo Huaman
Biography coming soon! 

 

 

Pilar Sinchi Yupanqui　　Pilar enjoys weaving clothes—lliqllas, ponchos, and golon—for herself and her family.  She has one child that she hopes will one day study to be an engineer.  She learned to weave by watching her mother at a young age and enjoys weaving lliqllas and ponchos most.

 

 

Placida Mamani Quispe
Placida is twenty-nine years old and has a one-year old daughter, Linda, and a five-year old son. She says she will teach her daughter to weave when she is six years old, like most children in the community. Both she and her husband are exceptional artists. Her husband painted a mural across their adobe house. Figures of the mountains (apus), llamas, condors and other sacred animals decorate their wall. To start a weaving, Placida pounds sticks into the ground to create a loom and wraps colored yarns around the frame. At this point, Placida has already determined how to organize the different colors in order to weave designs inspired by daily life and of sacred symbols.

 

 

Raymunda Quispe Quipse 　Raymunda hopes that all of her six children will complete their schooling through high school.  She prefers to weave lliqllas and ponchos to other types of textiles.  Raymunda has no favorite food, but gladly eats whatever is availabe: vegetables, pasta, and moraya and chuño, two types of free-dried tubers popular in the region.

 

Rudecinda Sullkapuma Huaman  Biography coming soon! 

 

 

 

Sabina Huamanhuillca GamarraBiography coming soon! 

 

Sabina Medina Dias
Sabina’s mother taught her to weave when she was fifteen. Her favourite item to weave is the lliqlla, the traditional manta or shawl that Quechua women wrap around themselves and their babies to keep out the Andean chill. When asked how often she prefers to weave lliqlla, she proudly responds zapacutin, the Quechua term for “every time.” Sabina now lives in Patacancha with her husband and children, but she was born and raised in Huilloc, the neighboring town below Patacancha. Her favourite dish is sopa de lisas, a thick soup made from one of the many tubers that grow in the high Andes.

 

 

 

 

Toribia Quelqay Churata　　Toribia is from a small town called Wakawasi near Lares, a town known for its hot springs . Her favorite items to weave are lliqllas and ponchos for her husband and four children.  Like the other weavers, Toribia spends her time caring for her children, tending to her animals, preparing yarn, and weaving textiles to sell to Awamaki and others.

 

Valentina Yupanqui Huaman  Valentina is 23 years old and has been weaving since she was ten. The mother of two young children, Valentina uses her limited free time to make them clothes. Valentina wants her children to go to school and, when they are older, to choose their own paths in life. Valentina loves music and one can often hear the radio blaring loudly from her house. She and her husband run one of the six small tiendas (shops) in Patacancha. In addition, her husband earns money trekking with tourists in between Patacancha and Lares. Valentina rarely leaves Patacancha and, in fact, has never been to Lares. Valentina is very creative and likes weaving more than spinning and dyeing because she can record and display her imagination and ideas in weaving. Her design inspirations come from her own mind and include many animals, both real and imaginary.

 

 

Victoria Huaman Sinchi (President of the Patacancha association)
Biography coming soon! 

 

Victoria Medina Usca  (Secretary of the Kelkanka association) Since starting work with Awamaki in 2010, Victoria is weaving much more.  Before she really only wove llama fibers into strong ropes.  Now she devotes much of her time to spinning and dyeing yarn to weave into a variety of textiles.  Victoria likes to weave all different kinds of designs: animals, streams, lakes, and flowers.

 

 

Victoria Sinchi　　Like many of the other weavers in the association, Victoria's husband is often gone working as a porter on the Inca Trail.  The work is difficult and does not generate much money.  Victoria says she wants to visit Machu Picchu, but she has no interest in hiking the Inca Trail.  Her entire family, including her three children, was born in Kelkanka.  Victoria likes weaving clothes more than any other type of weaving.  She likes to decorate them with birds and llamas but does not like to weave images of frogs, snakes, or ants.

 

Yolanda Yupanqui Monagra Biography coming soon!