Backstrap Loom Heritage
In the Mejay Valley in Hidalgo, Mexico, a great-grandmother, a grandmother, and a mother weave on backstrap looms to support themselves, a legacy that endures and keeps an old technique alive
Mecate utilizado por el colectivo Domitzu (2025-09-26) by Mario Vázquez SosaMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
A sustaining fiber
María Trinidad González García's great-grandmother cultivated the maguey plant in El Mejay, in the Mezquital Valley. She cut away the leaves under the semi-desert sun, extracting ixtle fiber for days on end. Each ayate cloth took a full week's work.
Bartering
Martina García Cruz recalls the financial hardship of her childhood: "One ayate cloth for a quartillo (about a quart) of corn. If we didn't sell, we didn't eat." Her father walked three hours to Ixmiquilpan every Sunday, carrying dozens of ayate cloths that the women had spent all week weaving.
Ayate: a traditional fabric made with maguey fibers (ixtle), historically used for garments, bags, or blankets by the indigenous peoples of central Mexico.
From ixtle to cotton
Martina was 12 when a teacher arrived in El Mejay with a cotton loom. While the teacher was cooking, Martina secretly took the loom. "I was good at it," she recalls. That moment marked the gradual change from ixtle to new materials.
Tres artesanas del colectivo Domitzu tejiendo en sus telares de cintura (2025-09-26) by Mario Vázquez SosaMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
Following in her father's footsteps
Like her father in the 1970s, Martina carried woven bundles to Mexico City, accompanied by her husband. It was the beginning of a journey that continues to this day, sharing the Otomi legacy and iconography with the world.
Artesanas del colectivo Domitzu trabajan en sus telares (2025-09-26) by Mario Vázquez SosaMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
The first collective
A group of six weavers from the village soon formed. This quickly grew into a collective of more than 50 women.
Manos de la artesana María Trinidad González García mientras teje en telar de cintura (2025-09-26) by Mario Vázquez SosaMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
A special bond
It was at this point that a community formed. It allowed the Otomi women of the Mejay Valley to support their families, but above all, to support each other, creating a solidarity economy group.
Retrato de la artesana María Trinidad González García tejiendo en su telar de cintura (2025-09-26) by Mario Vázquez SosaMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
From veterinary practice to the loom
Martina's daughter María Trinidad González García was going to be a vet but fate had other plans. The pandemic brought her back to the loom alongside her mother. Today, her hands dance with the echo of the looms of the four generations of women that preceded her.
Artesanas del colectivo Domitzu trabajan en sus telares de cintura (2025-09-26) by Mario Vázquez SosaMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
Strength in a collective
Today, Trinidad and Martina lead a group of women who have found the Otomi strength and pride in their union, enabling them to share their art with the rest of the world.
La artesana María Trinidad González García posando junto a Frida Hyadi Diaz Gonzalez (2025-09-26) by Mario Vázquez SosaMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
The fifth generation
"I was born among looms like my mother," says Trinidad's daughter Frida Hidadi Díaz González, who at just 15 has already mastered most of the techniques. <b>The loom lives on: once as sustenance, now as a legacy.</b>
La artesana María Trinidad González García mostrando una prenda del colectivo Domitzu (2025-09-26) by Mario Vázquez SosaMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
The Domitzu song
Through the loom, the Domitzu women have not only created a thread of family heritage that grows through their union, but also a song that carries the pride of the Otomi to everyone.
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