Description

This is a Mexican huipil from Huautla de Jimenez in northern Oaxaca state. This huipil was probably made by Mazatec women. The Mazatec are an indigenous group that live in a landscape surrounded by hills, rivers, and tropical rainforest. The birds and flowers on the Mazatec dress are inspired by the local flora and fauna of their region. While Mazatec huipils originally were hand woven on a backstrap loom (with hand-spun cotton as in all of Mesoamerica), now commercial fabrics and threads are used. Today, the women use commercial “manta” or cotton muslin as the base cloth (or canvas!) for their beautiful embroideries of birds and flowers.