Valle Nacional, Oaxaca, a Chinanteco town. The town is located on the road from Tuxtepec to Oaxaca. It is a market place for the surrounding Chinanteco peoples. Huipils are worn here during fiestas, mostly by older women.The town is trying to have a road built into the Chinantla so that more commerce can come from the isolated inland villages. The climate is hot and humid. A number of springs and rivers are nearby. The huipil from here is seldom used except for festival and ceremonial occasions.. Bob Freund 2/24/2005
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The wrap skirt is woven on a backstrap loom in two parts and sewn together to be about a yard wide. It is common in these villages for old scraps of textiles to be used to remember the different types of patterns; the picture second from the right is a composite of four different samplers that Celia used to create huipils. There are hundreds of combinations of designs. The embroidery is time-consuming. Above, Celia and friends are working on the huipils. She had around eight huipils ready to sell. Valle Nacional is a market town for the surrounding Chinanteco communities; the mail road from Tuxtepec to Oaxaca passes right through it. There is abundant water, which sustains a viable agricultural base.