Handicrafts

The women of the community have been trained to produce handicrafts for tourists visiting the Interpretation Centre. The association of women artisans of the community makes its products based on seeds from the area and fibers collected in the jungle.

The seeds used are: cow's eye, deer's eye, huiruro seed, guieno mullo, achira mullo. Chambira fiber is used to make shigras and hammocks. Most of this material is found in the forest thanks to the cultivation of the plants that give these seeds. The technique of the handicrafts was learned by the women of the community from other Kichwa women. Nowadays, in the Interpretation Center, there is an area dedicated to the workshop-gallery for the exhibition and sale of these crafts.

On the other hand, Milton Yumbo says: "The basket is made with lianas, it is woven by the man and it is the woman who uses it. It has a large size to carry yucca or firewood. That's why it has to be very strong. The shigra is made of fiber, used by men and women, but usually it is the woman who makes it. Its purpose is to store animals obtained in fishing or hunting. It can also be used to carry food when leaving home.

Another important craft in daily use is the mocahua. Enma Cerda tells us that in order to make mocahuas or clay pots, we look for a land that is very white, which mixes with red and black sand. These are found inside the mountain in a ravine.

"You have to diet to look for clay, you have to dream, if you dream badly, you no longer have to go. If the woman is menstruating she can't go either. Then you have to take that soil, bring it home, take out the pebbles, everything that is garbage, leaves; it is mixed with water, with a thin soil. After that you have to knead well and start making some sort of doughnut and wrap it with rope. The mixture is brown. After the shape is given, the leftovers are scraped off and put on a wood fire or grill. Then you put clay on it. In Kichwa we call it cirkillo, beeswax that you put on to make it shiny”.

The designs are painted with natural paints: black, white and red. The paint is mixed with water in a hollow stone and the brush is made with hair. It's painted before it's grilled. Designs are the power of the jungle, boas are painted, treetops, snakes, all design is from the jungle. The mocahua is used to take the chicha and the guayusa.

The clay pot that serves to cook the guayusa and the food is also made, it is the same procedure, but instead of being painted with designs, it is painted with green leaf and then put in the fire, is ends up being black and can be used in the heat.

Another form that is given to the mud is the callana, which is like a plate and that is also painted with green leaves so that the clay does not come out and then the beeswax is put on it. In kurymuyo there are big jars that were used in the past to store the chicha, but as they are very big they are not made anymore, because it can take more than a month, because "you have to do a little, let it dry and then make it go up a little more and so on several times".