Jiquipilco Viejo, Temoaya, State of Mexico and Otomi town by Bob Freund 9/23/2005For more information contact:
info@mexicantextiles.com
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Jiquipilco Viejo is said to be the birth place of the Otomi in this region. It is on a well maintained road leading out of Temoaya. The town has recently had a face lift and looks pretty clean, the town square was painted as was the church. My initial contact was with the young woman who was at the library and in the process of installing 20 computers! Normally I look for the head of the town but was told he was out of town. I was sent to a small store where the women became very interested in the project. After we spoke for a while they decided the best person to take pictures of lived near by and so off we went. She lived in one of the oldest homes in town and it was located on top of a hill supposedly to be able to watch the road that came into town from the south. We waited for a while and she finally showed up carrying some greens that she had just harvested.

The traditional dress here is the same in all the villages consisting of a back strp woven belt, a hand loomed stripped wool wrap skirt and a croqueted or hand embroidered blouse with a transparent over blouse. The blouse doubles as a slip and is often finished with a row of crocheted along the seam. There is also a typical Tenancingo reboso commonly worn. See the next page for crafts from Jiquipilco.

The women there were intent that I understood the importance of the belt and its design patterns. The central row of this belt represents the woman fertility and thier capacity to bear children. This belt was slightly different than other belts in the area which are narrower; however they all have three rows. Designs vary greatly but are often birds and flowers.