A Rug Story

Onesimo Lago Contreras

We just returned from Oaxaca from a CRIZMAC travel adventure for the Mexican Days of the Dead, the most important celebration of the year in Mexico. This was my third trip to Oaxaca and on both previous trips, I had bought a black and white rug from a certain market in the village of Teotitlan del Valle, known worldwide for their weaving. I had not been able to find any black and white Mexican rugs anywhere on the Internet, so I am guessing that they are not marketed because they may not fit design and color expectations.

Anyway, after a demonstration at the home of Nelson Perez Mendoza, I went on a hunt for the market I remembered. Despite that it was the time of the Days of the Dead, which usually draws many foreign visitors, there were not many people shopping or walking around the village. The people here desperately need the income from their weaving to support themselves. The negative press about the perceived safety of Mexico has drastically cut the number of visitors here. Oaxaca has no warnings from our state department and we felt perfectly safe the entire time we were there; this is where so many of the folk artists live and we visited a number of them at their homes.

The weaving market in Teotitlan del Valle.

The first black and white rug I found in the market is the one in the photo at the top. I spotted it by the border design. The border on the rug he is holding in the photo is like the border on the rugs I already have from the village, though the design in the center is different and there is gray as well as black and white wool. When I said I wanted to buy it, the man reacted unexpectedly. When I gave him the money, he kissed it, folded it, put it in his pocket, and made the sign of the cross. Then he told me that he had made the rug and that it was his first sale of the day. He wrote down his name for me and let us take his photo. He gave me his address, as well, so I am going to try to send him a copy of the photograph.

In the next stall I found another similar rug and bought that as well. And again, it turned out that the man who sold it to me had made it. I wish I could have bought a rug from every stall there.

This experience really made me think about the needs of these people and their pride in their ability to create beauty from the simplest materials.  I didn't try to bargain here and don't think I ever will again anywhere else. They deserve every penny they ask for.