Owners of their heritage and resources; responsible for keeping tradition alive

Community participation has allowed the embroiderers to manage their resources and keep their traditions alive. They are the ones who have the responsibility, authority and control in making decisions about their intangible cultural heritage.

Over the centuries, an exceptional technical repertoire has developed around textiles, in which pre-Hispanic, colonial and contemporary influences converge.

The book Mayan Embroidery of Yucatán: Living Heritage explains that since ancient times, embroiderers have created a language of stitches that documents both cultural continuity and the ability to adapt to new tools.

The section on the historical evolution of the technique details that “in the pre-Hispanic period it is likely that universal stitches were used, such as the contour stitch, the basting stitch, the scallop and the mo’ol mis. With the arrival of the Spanish, techniques such as cokbilchuy (counted thread or cross stitch), practiced on meshes and imported fabrics, were introduced.

“In the 19th century, the use of chuyk’ab or satin stitch was consolidated, and the xmaniktéx survived, of probable pre-Hispanic origin, and considered unique in the country. The introduction of the pedal machine transformed the practice of embroidery: peasant families began to use it as a means to obtain additional income in times of crisis, which allowed them to increase the speed of production without abandoning artisanal skill.”

It is also explained that the 20U motor machine was incorporated as a pedal complement during the 20th century. Some traditional techniques, such as grid, renaissance or openwork, continued to be made by hand with these machines, which required coordination between hands and feet, thus maintaining the uniqueness of each piece.

In recent decades, the emergence of digital embroidery introduced a drastic change. Although it increased mass production, it eliminated manual intervention and generated tensions with artisanal embroidery, since it is sometimes marketed as if it were handmade.

The embroiderers’ text points out that during the colonial era, the main tribute imposed on the Mayan peoples was the production of plain fabrics on backstrap looms, and in three centuries of domination, Mayan women stopped producing the beautiful, varied and significant brocades – woven drawings – that in ancient times adorned their textiles.

“At the end of Spanish rule, at the beginning of the 19th century, those brocades had disappeared both from their fabrics and from their collective memory, and in their place the practice of needle embroidery had been consolidated.”