Red Wind Councils
P.O. Box 15
Maynard, MA 01754-0015
Board of Directors
Honorary Board of Directors
Without any possibilities of Vision,
there can be no true
social justice.
Reviving Ancient Traditions
VISIONS OF THE EARTH:
Renewing Cultural Traditions
Visions of the Earth / Visiones de la Tierra is a Red Wind Councils project supporting the revival of ancient Maya culture & arts. Red Wind donates seed money & materials to the crafters & artists to revive their culture & develop their visionary projects.
Visions of the Earth / Visiones de La Tierra encourages the Maya people to rediscover & create cotton weavings, medicine masks, carved bone medicine pieces, embroidered textiles, feather earrings, semi-precious jewelry, sacred items for altars & beaded work. Red Wind advisors collaborate directly with some of the most talented Maya artisans in Chiapas. By encouraging the recovery of their traditional crafts, these patient efforts have developed the possibility of survival for many Maya craftspeople. The result of this artistic support for these Maya families is growing hope & stability. Their dreams are represented in exquisite, one-of-a-kind, handmade medicine pieces, masks, jewelry & textiles.
Hands of the Earth
In Mexican culture, indigenous women have been exploited, degraded & made invisible - they are the lowest of the low in Mexican society, but through the weaving & embroidery projects & similar cooperative efforts, the women are regaining their dignity & are participating in creating better lives for their children. Young girls see the dignity & empowerment of the women & as they learn crafting skills from their mothers this positive change continues to blossom.
In one rural Maya community, there were 10-15 women who dreamed of starting a sewing cooperative. Red Wind Councils raised funds to provide the women with a simple, communal building (the most stable, long-term approach) & 3 sewing machines, as well as some material & thread to begin the project. Before the project, the women were sewing all the clothes for their families by hand. Each of the women involved in the sewing cooperative have 5-6 children & the sewing machines greatly reduce the amount of time it takes them to make clothing for their families. Now they are able to spend some of their time making clothes for sale, such as mandiles (the apron that the women wear) & tortilla cloths. The simple sewing cooperative building has a concrete floor, block foundation, wooden walls & a metal roof with a bit of paint, yet it provides the much needed opportunity for the women to gain self-sufficiency, & an opportunity for the young children to make better lives for themselves. Red Wind Councils advisors have observed that without the interest from the children in preserving craft traditions, the women become disheartened & less able to pass along those skills. Daughters who begin learning craft skills when they are very young acquire both habits & skills to support their families when they are grown. These young people are also more inclined to value & preserve their cultural roots.
Red Wind also provides resources for communities to recover traditional Maya music & resume the use of traditional instruments such as the marimba, ocarina, & clay drums. These are used for social as well as ceremonial gatherings. With Red Wind's advisory & financial support, communities have returned to making adobe ceremonial buildings, drums, & clay figures of their ancient deities.
Opening Paths for Traditional Artisans
Your donations to Visiones de la Tierra projects directly help humble Maya families to regain their lives, their dignity & their hope. We invite you to support their brave efforts on behalf of all humanity.
Your purchases at Amazon.com can help raise needed funds for our work with the Maya people in Chiapas. Just click on the Amazon.com button on this website every time you want to shop at Amazon.com and a portion of your purchases will be donated to Red Wind Councils.
Red Wind Councils
PO Box 15
Maynard, MA 01754
pathways@redwindcouncils.org
Tax ID#: 20-3633955
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