Chefa –who was born Josefa Antonia Barliza Ipiana– is a brilliant 22-year-old Colombian, indigenous woman from the Wayuu community. The Wayuu are a very well-known indigenous community that inhabits the Colombian Guajira peninsula, a desert in the northeastern part of the country, on the border with Venezuela.
This matriarchal community recognized for its textile work has adapted to the harsh, dry climate of their land facing the Caribbean Sea. More than a cultural practice and inheritance from their ancestors, for them, weaving is a way of conceiving and expressing life as they feel and desire it and also a way to read the spirit that guides their thoughts and actions.
AVESSA had the chance to interview Chefa, one of these enchanting women who’s a leader within her community.
Where do you come from, Chefa?
I am Wayuu, from the Arema community in Carrizal de Uribia District, La Guajira, Colombia.
What is your role within your community?
Currently, I am an elementary school teacher and also a youth cultural promoter.
What is a typical Wayuu woman's attire like?
The typical attire of a Wayuu woman is based on the manta (a type of wrap), which comes in different styles. The most important ones are the patterned or embroidered ones, showcasing creative designs by women artisans. We also wear a headscarf that covers our hair to always show our full face. Our necklaces, which are the most valuable accessories of our ancestors, are represented with red and gold, and our sandals are also made with artisanal materials.
What is the significance of each of those garments?
They help us maintain our cultural identity.
How do men dress?
The man has his attire, which is the wayuko, covering only his intimate parts. It’s a very special weave, very different from that of the mantas. It’s only made by grandmothers. They also wear cotizas, which are similar to the women’s wuaireñas, and sheempara –which is a long-sleeve shirt with embroidery made by a female artisan– depending on the occasion.
What is the significance of the sleeves?
The sleeve represents elegance. The palabreros (word-speakers) wear a long sleeve representing elegance and the spoken word. And on another occasion or depending on the season, they wear short sleeves.
What is the cultural value of your fabrics, and who makes them?
For us, the ones we make are the basic mantas, which we use in our daily lives. The value we place on them is not economic but sentimental because, through them, we teach our new generation that we can create what we imagine with designs that can be expressed. For example, if I have a fabric, I can do wonders because it depends solely on the woman’s creativity and the design one wants to express in the embroidery, in the open stitches, and for the thread to reflect the waist.
How do people from large cities respond to the traditional way the Wayuu dress?
I speak for myself. People always stare at us, especially when we go out with our makeup. I remember walking with my makeup on, and someone told me I had a bruise. But it’s not a bruise, it’s my makeup! Maybe they are not ignorant people. Maybe they are Colombians, but they still don’t know how indigenous people truly dress. Some do know, they are amazed, and immediately start taking pictures to document it. With our attire, we want to transmit our cultural identity.
What were your impressions of how people dress in the capital?
Well, depending on the fashion because we also dress in arijuna clothes, which is what we call those who do not belong to the Wayuu territory. I say that fashion has changed and developed. You see different outfits, and I say: I wouldn’t wear those clothes. Because if I wear them in my community, I will be scolded. Or it’s an insult because there are clothes that show a lot of skin. I could say they are very vulgar because we usually have something covering us. One seeks something to cover but also be sensual.
Sensual how?
For example, I tell my aunt: I want a manta, but I need it to have grips inside and show all my waist. That way, women who seek to sell their beauty, as one says, can do it. But the arijunas don’t do it like we do. Even in dances. There’s a dance of ours called La Coqueta, in which the woman dances raising her chest towards the man and jumping from side to side. That’s why it’s called La Coqueta: the flirtatious woman. What we do is flirt but with few fabrics on, always covering the body. For example, when we see women in swimsuits, they look beautiful, but we can’t dress like that.
What Do You Wear to the Sea if Not a Bathing Suit?
We bathe in our mantas.
What is your opinion on men's attire in the capital?
Currently, the Wayuu man also dresses like that because their attire is gradually being lost. They only use it for special occasions.
What are the special occasions?
The arrival and reception of tourism, the demonstration of our culture, an event like the development of a woman, a graduation ceremony, or a special moment. For their day-to-day, the man uses gui and short-sleeve shirts, long-sleeve shirts, and shoes.
I know that the first time you boarded a plane was last year when you came to Bogotá. How was it?
It was a very significant experience because los Juanes and my boss practically made me travel alone from my home to El Dorado Airport, in Bogotá, and take a taxi alone. It was full of challenges because I was facing a very different world than I was used to. I also felt the adrenaline of missing my flight and getting lost.
What is your relationship with los Juanes from El Dorado, how did you meet them, and what are you doing with them?
My relationship with El Dorado started four years ago. They came to my community wanting to help us, and this resulted in a project called Corazón del Sol (sun’s heart), which was financed by the women of the IBU Movement Foundation, in United States. I was the link between everyone and my community.
What is Corazón del Sol about?
The school attended by the children of the community is about an hour and a half walk from where we live. So, these mothers had to walk an hour and a half to the school to drop off their children, then walk another hour and a half back home. Later on, they would have to leave again in the afternoon to go to the school to pick up the children and return home. That would be 6 hours in total. 6 hours walking back and forth without being productive. The idea was to build a physical space (which we called Corazón del Sol) where women could work on their crafts while their children were at school, thus being able to use their time productively.
What is there in Corazón de Sol
Initially, it was only going to be space for artisan mothers, but the project grew a lot. Currently, Corazón de Sol has a space for children to sleep, two classrooms, a kitchen with a dining area, and a large space where we carry out our cultural activities such as dancing our traditional dance, playing our traditional games, etc.
As the leader of the project, you had to travel to Charleston, South Carolina, to meet the women of the IBU Movement Foundation. How was the trip, what did you learn, and what impression did you take of the US?
I first met them here when they came to visit the community. They were so enchanted with everything they saw that they went back to Charleston and that’s why they invited me to present the project to them in person, with the help of los Juanes for translation. I wanted to bring souvenirs for my family, and I was very surprised by how the Dollar works. I thought I had enough money, but it was nothing there. The United States seemed to me to be a country where dreams really come true and where a business can benefit different communities.
What do you miss the most when you leave your community?
The food.
Specifically, what?
Goat!
What is the cultural significance of weaving for your community?
Weaving means unity, connecting our opinions in one center, that is, doing cooperative work. Embroidering means family ties, always a good connection. That’s what keeps the circle of life.
What relationship does weaving have with when women have their first menstruation?
When we have our menstruation, we go from being a girl to a woman, from a girl to a teenager. When this happens, we are locked up because, through confinement, we are prepared to contribute to our cultural society with our daily work. You come out of the confinement knowing how to weave hammocks, backpacks, blankets, and other embroideries. You are now prepared to start a family.
What is your life plan now?
In the United States, they said I could study whatever I wanted there and they would pay for it, but I am already studying to be a Technologist in Education, and I am also the link of this project that cannot stop. I want to be here to work for my community. Because I can continue working in the community and study in the afternoons.
What else would you like to study?
A Master’s in Education to aspire to a better position here in the rural area. Because with that, one can generate more benefits for one’s family, that is, for the community, which grows more.
Do you dream of getting married and having a family?
Yes, of course. I am ready to have my first child. Here, from the age of 16, every woman has her first child, but obviously, my case is different because I was studying, I was working, I am still studying. But I do want to have two children.
Do you have a partner?
Yes, I have been with my boyfriend for three years.
Does all this time mean you have to get married?
Of course, he has to. He has to marry me.
Are you allowed to have sexual relations before getting married?
For us, the man you get involved with will be your partner for life. If you get pregnant, you have to get married immediately. We do have sexual relations, but it’s not something that is discussed.
What is the importance of being a woman in the Wayuu community?
The woman is life and the representative of each family’s nuclei. The woman carries the maternal line. The mother is the owner of the house and of the surname. That’s why we always, always look for our girl, our female. Additionally, the woman is the one who maintains the customs and traditions of our culture. The word that matters is that of the women.
Having more space and time to ask Chefa a lot more questions would’ve been fascinating. The good news is you can follow her on Instagram and watch how this sweet, fun, and smart indigenous woman lives her life in the spectacular Guajira, in Colombia, among her community.
