The Kateri Circle Sewing Group at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota could use some help from those of us with abundant stashes! The women of Pine Ridge meet regularly to sew, quilt and bead. The group includes many elders, as well as youth who are learning traditional crafts and beading.

Supplies of all kinds, including fabric will be much appreciated by the Kateri Circle Sewing Group. A list of needed items and more info about the group and Pine Ridge is available at their website, as well as mailing address. Please share your stash!!

The SAQA Journal, Spring 2010, featured an article,”Weaving Women Together,” written about weavers in Thailand by the founders of TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles, Ellen Agger and Alleson Kase. TAMMACHAT supports the weavers and artisans in a fair trade, social enterprise, promoting the beautiful and traditional fiber work of Thailand and Laos’ indigenous weavers. “We founded TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles to bring together our interests and expertise in SE Asia travel, weaving, fair trade, photography and supporting women weavers in rural Thailand and Laos, ” says Ellen Agger.

I have written here before about Ellen and Alleson’s important work and urge you to read the article, “Weaving Women Together.” This piece tells of the Prae Pan Weaving Coop in Khon Kaen, Thailand where women produce beautiful silk and cotton handwovens, combining tradition and creativity, and with ecological sounds methods.

As I read the article, I had some questions about the origins of the Coop in Prae Pan and how cultural heritage is blended with economics. Ellen Agger answers below:

Bonnie: As I read the article, Ellen, I wondered how long ago the coop in PraePan, Thailand was organized and by who?

Ellen: PraePan Group was started to address issues of women’s health, education and empowerment. From PraePan’s website (http://praepangroup.wordpress.com), created with the help of a volunteer in 2009:

Encouragement to form the group came originally from the Handicraft Center for Northeast Women’s Development (NWD) that proposed the following objectives:

• To preserve and teach to others the techniques and traditional patterns of hand weaving to the Northeast.
• To provide a lasting career and steady income for the women.
• To encourage the women’s participation in all aspects of community affairs while they cooperate with one another in the weaving project.

The NWD program continued for 10 years. Beginning in 1997, NWD turned the management of the program over to a committee consisting of representatives of NWD and of each of the villages. The parent organization has gradually withdrawn as the village group has learned to take over its functions, until NWD now has only an advisory role.

Bonnie: Was this coop formed with the idea of sustainability or creating a market or both in mind?

Ellen: Self-sufficiency has always been a core value of PraePan. They bought their own shop building in the province’s capital city of Khon Kaen, where the co-op sells handwoven products made by (and purchased) from members in 7 surrounding villages. They are extremely proud of managing their own shop and community business, as well they should be.

Access to a market is a huge challenge for rural artisans, so belonging to a group like PraePan gives individuals access to markets they can’t otherwise reach. TAMMACHAT’s role is to link these artisans – and others like them – to markets in North America and online to the world. This access to international markets is critical with the drop in international tourism in Thailand over the last 2 years.

Bonnie: You mentioned in the article that there are similar groups of village weavers throughout Thailand and Laos – does this seem to be networked or growing?

Ellen: This artisanal work is very much at risk. Women who have been involved with weaving groups in Thailand for decades have predicted that home-based silk weaving may disappear in a decade because of increased competition from factory-produced “silks” from Vietnam and China.

These weavers learned their craft from their mothers and grandmothers, often starting by age 10. Their daughters and granddaughters are not continuing these traditions, they tell us. Unless the younger generation sees income potential from these crafts, we suspect they will die. The good news is that the internet can potentially make a real difference by opening markets, providing income and showing that there are people all over the world who appreciate these handcrafted textiles and will buy them.

Bonnie:  Are most of what is produced ethnic or traditional in design and the importance of this in preserving cultural heritage of women’s handwork.

Ellen: Each group with whom we work is made up of women in different villages and even provinces, both in Thailand and Laos. Some villages have specific traditions that the artisans prefer to follow. For example, one village where PraePan members live and work specializes in cotton traditional “khit” weaving (supplementary weft for you weavers).

Some weavers have worked with designers from Europe and Japan to create specific products and designs that suit those markets. When we asked weavers on our last trip what they preferred to weave, most told us they want to weave whatever will sell.

We try to choose designs that will have appeal in our market and also respect their traditions. It’s a process of collaboration for us. Also, we have sought out groups that work with women who make the silk yarns (sericulturists), natural dyers and weavers – all of whom work using traditional methods they have honed over generations, even if the designs are not traditional designs. It’s important to us that not only do we help them generate income, but also sustain these traditions of handwork. It’s really part of their cultures.

When I bred and raised alpacas, I learned about their history. Research tells us that the alpaca has been a domesticated livestock for over 4000 years, producing fiber that was the basis of class struggles in South America, often called the “fiber of the gods,” and even now referred to as “the gold of the Andes.” Alpacas were part of the traditions and cultural development of the herdsmen and women of the Andes, known as “compesinos”  who today still are part of the alpaca industry in Peru. The Compesinos, generation after generation, have raised their herds high in the mountains, with skill and caring, and the alpacas in my pasture were descendents of those alpacas. Awe inspiring to say the least.

Many of us who work with cloth and fiber, were drawn to this medium in part, because of our interest in the role it has played in the history and cultural development of a people. There is a connection to the past, to the earth and to people who created and were sustained by cloth before us.

Like Carlo Petrini’s Slow Food movement in concept, the Slow Cloth Movement is about one’s relationship to your work, life and expression with cloth. In 2007,  Elaine Lipson starting developing the Slow Cloth movement and in ‘08, after much reflection, identified ten principles applicable to any textile-related process. Just recently, Elaine together with two artists of like-mind, Jude Hill and Glennis Dolce, have gone Facebook with a Slow Cloth community page. It has grown remarkably fast, has many interesting discussions and great array of resources too. Join the community and become part of the movement.

HandEye Magazine featured Elaine Lipson’s “Slow Cloth Manifesto” in their February 14th edition in which she outlines the ten principles of the movement-reflective and meaningful to those of us who work with cloth.

Elaine Lipson is a writer, editor, and artist, and the author of  The Organic Foods Sourcebook (Contemporary Books, 2001), The International Market for Green and Sustainable Apparel (Packaged Facts, 2008), and many articles on organic farming, supporting local growers, sustainable apparel and more. Her blog is Red Thread Studio blog at http://lainie.typepad.com

Women for Women International provides women of the Congo and Rwanda who are survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies. Women for Women International was founded in 1993 by entrepreneur and writer Zainab Salbi — through effective programs, 40,000 Congolese and Rwandan women have been helped.

“To honor the resilience of millions of women survivors of war around the world, Women for Women International is hosting a global campaign called Join me on the Bridge on International Women’s Day: March 8, 2010.”

“Women for Women International will bring women from Rwanda and Congo together on March 8th, in peace on a bridge between their countries to demand an end to war and to demonstrate that women can build the bridges to peace and development. At the same time and in solidarity, we will bring women (and men!) together on bridges throughout the world, creating a truly global movement that says NO! to war and YES! to peace and hope.” (from the release on the Women for Women website).

There will be “Meet Me on the Bridge” events around the world in support of and to raise awareness of the need of women everywhere who suffer injustice. Find out more about the events and locations or to sign a pledge of support at http://www.womenforwomen.org/bridge/index.php.

I first read about Women for Women International in the book, “Half the Sky,” written by Nicolas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, both winners of the Pulitzer Prize and journalists. The book is excellent, certainly an eye-opener for many who live in relative comfort and freedom. Kristof and WuDunn advocate action and involvement and give information on many networks and organizations working with women in countries where violence against them is an everyday occurrence.

I urge you to visit the website of Women for Women International, join and support their important work.