THE WOMEN POTTERS OF AMATENANGO

In the Teopisca valley of Chiapas, Mexico, among cornfield-lined roads that lose their way into the mountains, sits Amatenango del Valle. A tile and adobe village with only seven thousand inhabitants, located 38 kilometers east of San Cristobal de las Casas. It is said that the women potters here are born with terracotta souls and hearts of baked clay that are as fragile and pure as the region's soil.

The hill east of town, on the road to Comitan de Las Flores, has a view of the Amatenango valley and village. From there you can sight plumes of white smoke rising from town trees, proof that the women potters are at work.

    The women from Amatenango learn the art of pottery by an oral tradition that has remained unchanged for centuries, a tradition that began long before molds were created, and pottery was baked in ground-level, open-air bonfires. The secrets of their craft have been handed down from mother to daughter for generations.

    The first thing one notices upon entering Amatenango is the lack of men. Women are everywhere, in the streets, at the doors and windows—even children are mostly girls. You might see a man on the edge of town or a few talking in the plaza, but that's it. Later one learns that the men are either working in the fields or in the neighboring towns of Teopisca, Comitan or San Cristobal

    Households in Amatenango are potter's studios, where several generations of women, young and old alike, work at molding, painting and firing clay. There is not a single woman in Amatenango who ignores the art of making pottery. Meanwhile, most of the men are dedicated to farming. Early on when boys are shown the machete, the girls are introduced to their first chunk of clay.

    Women forage for clay in a place called El Madronal, which can prove to be quite a difficult task. They often must dig a ditch—up to two meters deep—to find a good deposit. The clay collection is carried out once a year, at the end of winter, before the rainy and spring sowing season (February to May). They simultaneously collect river sand and stones called bash, which is used to strengthen the clay.

THOUSAND-YEAR OLD TECHNIQUES

The pieces made in Amatenango del Valle are not only sold in Mexico. For many years they have also been available in the United States.

The Maya have been making ceramics the same way for centuries. To produce a bowl—a common object–—the potter sits on the ground before a wooden board. Using her hands she forms the flat, rounded base of the bowl. She then builds up the sides by placing successive ropes of clay, called gusanos (worms) on the base. She then smooths out the clay with thick experienced fingers, getting rid of the divisions to create a whole. Her hands, fingertips and palms are her principal tools, though she will use a piece of rubber and/or the flat of a knife to work the piece to an even finish. Once the bowl is molded it's left to dry in the sun for several days.

    Painting is next; brushes are store bought; the colors—mostly yellow and brown—are not. Pigments are extracted from stones the women collect in the mountains, or buy from the women of the Venustiano Carranza municipality, who collected them. The bowl's surface is rubbed with a rough stone to help the clay absorb the paint. Then comes the painting, and designs are simple: geometric figures, wavy lines, flowers, birds, suns and little bulls. The last phase of the process is the firing, an outdoor activity that all the women in the family participate in.

    The potters of Amatenango del Valle produce cookware, ritual ceramics and decorative items. Ashtrays, tiny dolls, great water jugs, plates, pots, and planters are also commonly made. The adornos (decorative items, though most of their products are utilitarian) are commonly sunbursts, half moons and a variety of animal figures, especially doves.

KEEPERS OF TRADITION

One of the potters of Amatenango del Valle who has had art expositions in Mexico and abroad.

The women of Amatenango work very hard. Most of them also care for their homes, their husbands and their children in addition to their work as potters, whether pottery is a full-time occupation or something done only to order. The women are also in charge of marketing their products. If the woman is a widow with no grown sons, she may add tilling the fields to her roster of activities. If deemed necessary, the women work shoulder-to-shoulder with their husbands when building their new homes.

    As with other indigenous groups in this region, the women of Amatenango are the keepers of the flame that prevents the customs of their group from fading away. While the men trade their cotton pants, conical palm hats and leather huaraches (sandals) for jeans, tennis shoes, rubber boots, cowboy hats and baseball caps, the women wear the traditional dress of the group, which that has changed little over the centuries. Indeed, the native dresses of Amatenango del Valle and of neighboring San Bartolomé de los Llanos are considered to be the most beautiful in Chiapas.

    The ladies of Amatenango wear a red and yellow manta (raw cotton) tunic-like blouse which they embroider with wool yarn. A blue checked cloth serves as a headdress, its arrangement reminiscent of a scarlet macaw, and a length bought in San Cristobal de las Casas is wrapped as a skirt. For some activities, the ladies swap the tunic blouse for a top like that used by the women of nearby Aguacatenango and Pinola, which is embroidered with flowers along the neck and sleeves. For important occasions however, Amatenango women dress only in their native garb.

    For religious ceremonies, especially fiestas in honor of the town's patron saint, St. Francis, the women are equal eager participants, imbibing along with the men. On this day both sexes drink a fermented beverage called posh, and it is the women who allegedly control its sale and production. They even seem to laugh longer, talk louder and take to the dance floor first.

    The men are not potters, nor do they directly contribute to the industry. They consider ceramics production a secondary activity, and the exclusive province of women. Interestingly, the attitude has little to do with economics. Studies show that a brisk business in ceramics, especially when working to order for regular clients, brings in more than the average maiz (corn) harvest; which is men's work.

A WARM WELCOME

The favorite figures of the Amatenango potters, and also those most in demand, are the doves.

Amatenango del Valle is one of the most interesting native Maya villages in the state of Chiapas. The woman are cheerful and genuinely friendly. Little girls offer what appear to be gifts to travelers, usually small clay animals. But the catch is that you are expected to buy something from his or her family in return. At other times the kids offer the object, then as you reach for it they ask for a peso or two. They are just children, and their charming animalitos (little animals) are the figures they practice on. As a sample of —and a way to encourage—fledgling creativity, a few pesos seems a bargain.

    Amatenango is a peaceful little village accustomed to tourism, which it seems to genuinely appreciate. If visitors like to watch the potters at work they need only to ask; the women will cheerfully lead them through their houses to their work areas. Cameras however, are prohibited. These folks rarely like their picture taken, and visitors are asked to refrain from doing so. Travelers able to establish that special rapport, or those making an exceptionally large purchase from a single family, may get the women to agree to a picture—if they are lucky.

    Land of the women potters, citadel of tradition, Amatenango del Valle is a village filled with creative women whose work is a form of art that combines the four elements—earth, wind, fire and rain—to create objects that reflect their culture and individuality. They are the living guardians of traditions centuries old, and to spend time among them is to enter a space of such purity and simplicity that one finds it hard to leave.

AN UNUSUAL MODE OF TRANSPORTATION

The men do help the potters in one way—they supply wood for the kilns, which they transport in funny little vehicles, not unlike the toy wagons used by city kids. The carts are about one meter wide by two meters long—a four-wheeled rectangle. The wheels are rounds of cypress and pine covered with the rubber from old tires held in place with wire. The carts are steered by a cord, the ends of which are tied to both ends of the front axle. The driver merely pulls in the direction he wants to go. The brakes require a bit more engineering. A small board is attached to a wire running the length of the cart. To slow down, the driver steps on the wire, which causes the boards to bear down on the back wheels.

    One can see men pulling carts up highway Federal 190, on their way to a plateau in the mountains a few kilometers above Amatenango. They collect from 30 to 100 kilos of wood and sticks per trip. Once they've secured the load they hop aboard and head back down to town, taking advantage of the downward inclination to coast the entire way home.

    Seeing the men tooling down the highway in these makeshift vehicles—sharing the road with slick automobiles and fourteen-wheel trucks—is an awkward sight. Although the people of Amatenango consider themselves careful drivers, accidents still happen on occasion. The brake wires tend to pop, sending cart and passenger flying off the road. By all accounts, victims get away with nothing more than cuts and bruises.