Tennis Anyone?

Musings from the Feb 2011 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

One of our favorite workshops in Oaxaca is that of Jacobo and Maria Angeles in San Martin Tilcajete. It is a beehive of activity. In the midst of carving and painting and selling beautiful alebrijes (the colorful animals famous in this area), day to day life activities go on. 

We were fortunate to stop in the day some workers and friends were getting ready for a big game. The explanation of the game was that it is a kind of Zapotec (the indigenous people of this area) "tennis." 

The gloves caught our attention. They are made of leather with nails and weigh between 8 and 10 pounds. The solid rubber ball weighs between 2 and 3 pounds. Unfortunately, we were not able to come back the next day for the big match. I resolved to learn more when I came home. (Big mistake!)

The young man on the left is one of the stars. He's traveled to compete against teams in California. Jacobo sits on the couch. The young man in the white shirt wears a glove in the right hand and holds a ball. The young man on the right is Jacobo's son.

I have found very little online about the game and how it is played. The website www.oaxaca.travel has a page called "Did you know that in pre-hispanic Oaxaca tennis was played?" The game is called "juego de Pelota" (ball game)—not too descriptive. [This site may no longer be live/available.]

A book at books.google.com called: Tennis: a cultural history by Heiner Gillmeister has a good photo of the glove on a hand with the ball on p. 73.

I'd love to learn more about the game as it is played today. Please share if you have played or know something about it. Thanks. -kl

Tinsmiths and Weavers

[Continuing journal written by Chiripa partners on the August 2008 buying trip.]

August 25

Before we headed out of town, we searched out a small tin workshop in downtown Oaxaca, to see tin ornaments being made. The ornaments were not pressed by a machine, as you might expect, but were individually cut and then hammered into shape by a tinsmith using a variety of different small hammers.



The tinsmith’s wife then painted the individual ornaments by hand, with painstaking care. We bought a number of the lovely ornaments for our Chiripa customers.



When we are in Oaxaca, we always make the bus trip to the village to Teotitlán del Valle. This time we also went to the nearby village of Santa Ana del Valle (just up the road from the market town of Tlacolula). Teotitlán and Santa Ana are known for making fine, handwoven wool rugs. Teotitlán is somewhat better known, and a bit more prosperous.

People in these and other area villages still speak Zapotec in their homes. Our friend Eric Chavez, a weaver’s son who grew up in Teotitlán, told us that each village has its own separate Zapotec dialect. These dialects are quite different from each other, so that it may be easier for people from different villages to communicate in Spanish, rather than in Zapotec.

The route to these villages leads down the Tlacolula Valley, past the ancient Tule tree (it was alive in the time of Christ, and is now one of the biggest living things in the world). Further down the road, past the weaving villages, you can visit the impressive pre-Hispanic ruins at Mitla (although we did not have time to visit Mitla on this trip).

In Teotitlán, we bought beautiful natural-dyed rugs and runners from our friends Bulmaro Perez and Federico Chavez, both recognized masters of the weaving craft. On hand-operated looms, these families still produce rich woolen rugs in the old way. Each rug starts with wool gathered from sheep in the surrounding highlands. The wool is carded and spun, colored with natural dyes such as cochineal, indigo and witch hazel, and then skillfully hand-woven into rich and elegant patterns. The families weave their ancient Zapotec tradition and individual craftsmanship into every rug.

Bulmaro demonstrates the natural dyes used in his beautiful rugs.

In Teotitlán, we also bought some warm, hand-knit wool caps from the Women’s Cooperative. We didn’t buy anything in Santa Ana this time, but did pay a visit to the parents of a friend’s acquaintance. Even though the parents did not know us, and were bereaved by a recent death in the family, they were kind enough to invite us for a meal. We had to decline, for lack of time, but will not soon forget their courtesy and hospitality.