KLASA 2 TF- PERUVIAN WEAVERS
 
NARRATOR: In a small village high in the Andes, it
all starts with the sheep. Just one, that loses its
warm, winter wool. First, a few people from the
village, or villagers, catch the sheep and prepare
the knife. Then, they carefully tie up the sheep so
that it can’t move.
Finally, they use the knife to cut the sheep’s
winter coat of wool. After that, one of the newest
and most important industries in Chinchero
begins. The methods they use are traditional, but
these villagers are part of something new. The
wool they’re collecting is for a new and different
business – a weavers’ cooperative that the
women here mange.
Every Monday and Saturday, 46 women and
girls cut wool from their sheep and llamas.
Then, they spin it into yarn for making cloth.
Nilda Cayanupa is the leader of the Center
for Traditional Textiles which manages the
cooperative.
NILDA CAYANUPA, CENTER FOR TRADITIONAL
TEXTILES: ‘Any of my age in my town was learning to
weave. So it was kind of sad that weaving was
disappearing. So, because that, always my dream
was that the younger generation should learn so
the weaving won’t die.’
NARRATOR: Nilda grew up in the Andean
countryside, where many of the men are farmers.
NILDA CAYANUPA: ‘Chinchero is a farming village.
We are the best – I’m not saying because I am
from this village – but we are the best producers
of the potatoes, and many things like quinoa …
barley …
NARRATOR: Farming has long been a tradition in
Chinchero. Many farmers here continue the
traditions of the Inca people who lived in the
Andes for centuries. However, farming no
longer brings in enough money to support
a whole family here. So, with the changes in the
economy, traditional ideas are changing, too.
Until now it’s always been the men who have
farmed and the women have cooked and cared
for the children. They have also taken wool
from the sheep and woven it into cloth. It’s the
weaving that’s now becoming more and more
important.
Nilda says that these women weavers are
becoming the main economic supporters of the
family. As an example, she tells of one woman
whose husband has started helping with
the sheep. She explains that this wasn’t very
common in the past. Men only farmed the land
and didn’t help with weaving.
NILDA CAYANUPA: ‘Today, this group of ladies can
make … not a lot of money … but a reasonable
amount of money.’
NARRATOR: Now in Chinchero, weaving isn’t just
a tradition. It’s a way to make money and live
well. Weaving has also become more important
for the culture of Chinchero. It has become a way
to make the textile tradition stronger and to
keep a part of the past alive.
GUADALUPE, WEAVER: ‘I learned when I was in the
third grade of school with very basic weaving.
Today, I weave blankets, shawls, ponchos, and
prepare my own yarn.’
NARRATOR: Older women now teach the younger
girls. The goal is to bring back the strength of the
textile tradition of the past. They want to keep
the Peruvian weaving traditions alive. As the
young women of Chinchero learn to weave, they
also learn to be self-sufficient. They can sell the
blankets and clothes that they make in their free
time.
ROSITA, WEAVER: ‘I do my weaving in my house, in
the afternoons and early morning. And here on
Monday and Saturday, too.’
NARRATOR: Weaving groups like the Chinchero
cooperative are giving new life to the textile
tradition. In the end, their cooperative may prove
that many threads together are stronger than