Lele Otomi doll represents the main source of employment in Santiago Metztititlán

Pachuca, Hgo., Otomi indigenous artisans from Santiago Metztititlán, municipality of Amealco de Bonfil, state of Querétaro, have for generations made the traditional Lele doll, which was born from the desire of the girls of that town to play at being mothers.

Catalina Prisciliano Julián, a young artisan from Santiago Metztititlán, who together with her grandmother and sister are dedicated to the making and selling of traditional dolls, in an interview for The Day She explained that when she was four or five years old, there were large families in her village, so the girls wanted to have a doll to imitate their mothers, aunts or older sisters who looked after their babies.

Lacking the resources to buy plastic dolls for their daughters, the women of Santiago Metztititlán began to use fabric from their old clothes and multi-colored ribbons to enthusiastically and lovingly make rag dolls, which little by little took the shape of the Lele doll.

When the girls finally received their little dolls made by their mothers, they hugged them, rocked them, wrapped them in shawls that their mothers also made for them and put them to sleep.

It was the little girls who started calling their dolls Lele, which in our native language Otomi means baby. And so that name stuck.added Catalina, who has been dedicated to its production for more than 20 years.

Little by little, the women of the village realized that the Lele doll attracted the attention of the tourists who visited the village, so they began to make them for sale.

Over time, it became a craft product that became a source of employment for the locals.

According to Catalina, 80 percent of the inhabitants who live in the community are dedicated to making Lele dolls.

Its importance is such that the Lele doll was named Cultural Heritage of the state of Querétaro on April 18, 2018 and a few years ago, in the municipal seat of Amealco de Bonfil, the Artisanal Doll Museum was built, where more than 300 pieces are exhibited.

According to Catalina Prisciliano, in the center of Santiago Metztititlán there is a monument dedicated to the Lele doll and there are various festivities throughout the year that tourists can take advantage of to buy them.

He pointed out that every June a fair dedicated to Lele is held in the center of Santiago Metztititlán.

She said that unfortunately there are crooks who, without being originally from Santiago, make rough imitations of the dolls, altering their characteristics and using industrial machines to make them in bulk instead of doing it by hand, which they try to pass off as originals in order to take over the market.

For this reason he called on the Buy original products and not low-quality pirated products.

The dolls that Catalina makes come in various sizes, some even measuring four or five centimetres to be used as key chains.

All pieces are multicoloured and meticulously handcrafted.