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Coca Pouches From Colombia. Wiedemann
Coca Pouches From Colombia. Wiedemann
C o c a Pouches f r o m Colombia
1. CCX:A
Coca is a shrub which requires a v arm and moist climate similar to that
in which tea is grown, and flourishes best at an altitude between 1000 and
1500 m above sea level. The ovoid-shaped leaves are harvested three o r four
times a y e a r . They contain several alkaloids, the most important of which
is c o c a i n e . Like c o f f e e , tea, and t o b a c c o , c o c a has a stimulating effect and
helps to suppress feelings of hunger, thirst, and fatigue.
Ill
During the following centuries, numerous campaigns against c o c a were
launched either by church o r by government o f f i c i a l s who were convinced that
it caused the Indians to be lethargic and apathetic. Colombian and E c u a d o -
rian govern:nents have been quite s u c c e s s f u l in suppressing this " v i c e of c o -
ca".
3. THE ARHUACOS
112
Only the men are allowed to chew c o c a (hayo). The adolescent r e c e i v e s his
poporo and the lime spatula f r o m the shaman during the initiation r i t e s . His
c o c a pouch is given to him by his bride o r mother as a gift of e s t e e m . The
leas call it tutu, the Kogis gama, the Sankas z u z o . The women stitch these
pouches whenever they have their hands f r e e , even while walking. R e i c h e l -
Dolmatoff (1949-50 : 259) learned that each c o c a pouch s y m b o l i z e s the p l a -
centa of the Arhuacos' mother g o d d e s s . As another curiosity, he reports
that the stitching of a pouch in the s o l e p r e s e n c e of a man may be under-
stood as an invitation to sexual intercourse (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1949-50:
259).
The pouches are made f r o m wool o r cotton by simple looping. With a big
sewing needle, one tiny buttonhole stitch is set against the other. The pouch
is started f r o m a flat disc of growing spirals called chipire. The number of
meshes p e r r o w increases outward by stitching through the loops and, in a d -
dition, through the thread-crossings of the past row (fig.13), At random in-
tervals, increase rows are worked, until the spirals add up to a bowl, which
f o r m s the base of the pouch (fig. 3). Then the walls a r e b u i l t u p . The r i m of
the pouch is decorated with big loops of double s i z e (fig. 12).
The length of the carrying strap is calculated f r o m the future o w n e r ' s left
shoulder down to the finger tips of the extended right a r m . A continuous warp
is wound, the nooses of which remain uncut. One end of the warp is held by
the manufacturer's big toe (fig. 11, at point x). F i r s t , the sling that runs at
the extreme left and right is c r o s s e d towards the center in simple braiding.
It moves like a weft o v e r and under one o r two to as many as four warp
n o o s e s . In the center the two threads of the sling c r o s s each other and turn
into warps f o r the following wefts. Each additional r o w pushes them further
outward until they reach the selvages and are again worked in as wefts. After
the nooses have been completely interwoven, the loops on both ends of the
shoulder strap are fastened to the rim of the pouch with large f i g u r e - o f - e i g h t
stitches, a s s h o w n i n f i g . i l , at point y . Being m o r e loosely woven in the c e n -
ter than at the s e l v a g e s , the strap has a great flexibility.
113
F o r m a l l y , vegetable dyes were u s e d . Dussan de Reichel ( I 9 6 0 : 142-143)
was told that batatilla (convolvulus s p . ) would dye yellow, a liana called chin-
qisa as well as the leaves of a tree called morado r e d , the leaves of another
tree named morito light yellow. Brazil wood produced a dark r e d , and f o r
black, iron oxide was boiled in the dye f r o m that t r e e . T h e s e natural dyes
are now being replaced by chemical ones which are cheap and less laborious
to handle.
4. THE P A E C E S
More " c i v i l i z e d " than the picturesque Arhuaco Indians are the P a e c e s in
Southern Colombia. They wear their hair short, and their clothes appear
less traditional. Dress making is the woman's task. Belts and the men's
naturally shaded ponchos are handwoven. The men's knee-length t r o u s e r s
and the women's colorful appliqueed blouses are sewn f r o m purchased f a b -
r i c s ( f i g . 6).
114
itself is fringed by a b o r d e r stitch in herringbone pattern (fig. 15). The f i n -
ished pouch, s m a l l e r than the Arhuaco pouches, measures no m o r e than 20
c m in length (4).
5. THE GUAMBIANOS
Living to the west of the P a e c e s , the Guambianos (also called Moguex) ap-
pear to be better integrated into Colombian s o c i e t y . An all-weather road
f r o m Pueblito, their main village, to Silvia and Piendamo facilitates the
trade of their agricultural products in the marketplaces of the Cauca valley.
The tribesmen wear distinctive costumes in the p r e f e r r e d c o l o r s of dark blue
and carmine to geranium r e d . The women's shawls and the m e n ' s knee-length
skirts are made f r o m c o m m e r c i a l blue cloth and trimmed with a red b o r d e r .
In contrast, the cloth f o r the women's skirts and the m e n ' s ponchos is still
hand woven on vertical f r a m e l o o m s . It is g r e y , black o r blue, adorned with
narrow red and white selvage s t r i p e s .
115
NOTES
REFERENCES
Bolinder, Gustaf
1925 Die Indianer der tropischen Schneegebirge. Stuttgart.
Dussan de R e i c h e l , Alicia
I960 La mochila de fique. " R e v i s t a Colombiana de F o l c l o r " , 2a ép. ,
v o l . 2 , 4 : 137-148. Bogota.
E m e r y , Irene
1966 The P r i m a r y Structures of F a b r i c s . Washington, D . C .
116
Mendoza Uscateguí, Nestor
1954 Contribución al estudio de la masticación de las hojas de c o c a .
"Revista Colombiana de Antropología" , v o l . 3 : 207-289. Bogotá.
Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo
1949-50 Los K o g i . Una tribu de la S i e r r a Nevada de Santa Marta, C o -
lombia. ( P r i m e r a parte). "Revista del Instituto Etnológico Na-
c i o n a l " , v o l . I V : 7 - 3 1 4 . Bogotá.
Rochereau, Henri J .
1961 Los Tunebos. "Revista Colombiana de A n t r o p o l o g í a " , vol. 10 :
37-110. Bogotá.
FIGURES
117
F i g . 15: Border stitch of the P a s e e s and Guambianos.
F i g . 16: Synoptic s c h e m e of fabrication of pouch by simple linking. The l o w -
e r section gives an impression how square and rectangular patterns
can be produced. The upper section shows a triangular pattern in the
making.
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