The Awá clothing is made with natural elements, with which they make what are considered their typical clothes. Both their dresses and accessories are made with fibers from trees typical of the area where they live.
Majagua (Polisemia armara) and terete (Quintante lutea) are the most used plants for the production of their garments.
The clothes that are considered their typical clothing were born after their contact with the Spanish missionaries, who saw the nudity typical of the locals with bad eyes. So they were persuaded to dress with more skin covering.
The Awá, like most Amerindians, only wore a loincloth or cover-sex at the time of the arrival of the Spanish.
Typical Awá clothing
The Awá, also called Cuaiquer or Kwaiker, have dressed in this way since approximately the 18th century, a time in which the missionaries' efforts to make them change cultural elements began to bear fruit.
Male clothing
The men of this tribe / nationality wear an elongated canvas, without buttons and generally white. This garment has coatings in the pectoral area and a high neck is born from it.
They also wear shorts made with the same majagua, which reach to the knees.
Originally their length was that of ordinary pants, but because the Awá live in humid forests, they decided to shorten the pants to a height where they would not stain as often.
To this set is added the hat made of terete, which represents the most characteristic accessory of her outfit.
Female dress
In contrast to men, women dress in a more colorful way.
A blue cloth crosses between her shoulders and covers her back and breasts, while the lower part is covered by a red cloth that goes from the waist to the feet.
When wearing this outfit, women paint their cheeks with achiote or onoto.
Evolution of their clothing
Their clothing has changed over time, beginning with the semi-nudity with which they were portrayed in the early 19th century, to their current mimicry with the garments worn by non-indigenous people.
At present, many of their customs have already disappeared or mutating, their typical clothing is no exception.
Hunting and sowing clothing, plus the costumes imposed by the missionaries, have been displaced by the use of more western clothing suitable for their main commercial activity, agriculture.
The Awá are barely less than 30,000 individuals, scattered in various communities in Colombia and a minority in Ecuador. This causes each community to lose traditional customs.
Basically, some have come to dress like ordinary inhabitants of rural areas, while others have assumed the garments of other tribes as their own.
Males are seen wearing jeans and cotton shirts, curiously they prefer light colors.
The terete hat is still present, especially in the elderly of the communities; many young people have preferred the cap or cap.
On the other hand, women have supplanted the cloth that covers their lower part with skirts of their own making, made of any type of fabric and color. The custom of painting the cheeks is gradually diluted.
Rubber boots are the preferred footwear for both genders. However, in larger communities women can avoid them by not getting involved in planting and harvesting.
References
- Barriga López, F. (1988). Ecuadorian Ethnology: Awa-Kuaikeres. Quito: Ecuadorian Institute of Educational Credit and Scholarships.
- Juncosa, JE, & Ventura, V. i. (1997). Minimal ethnographies of Ecuador: tsachila, cachis, cholo, cofán, awá-coaiquer. Quito: Abya-Yala.
- Ullauri V, M. (2003). Dialogue of cultures of the Northwest of Ecuador: Awa, Epera, Chachi, Afro-Ecuadorian, Mestizo campesino. Quito: Environmental Protection Management - Petroecuador.
- Villareal, CA (1986). The crisis of the survival of the Awá people. Virginia: Latin American Institute for Social Research.
- Zuluaga Zuluaga, C. (2010). Diverse Colombia: An Intercultural Experience. Medellin: UPB.