Double Thread Wayuu Bags

More about our colorful handmade Wayuu Bags

An ancestral Tradition

Traditional Wayuu Bags are handmade by the Indigenous Wayuu People, who live in La Guajira desert, in the northeast of Colombia. They use weaving technics that have been transmitted over generations.

Wayuu artisans represent in their bags their traditions and beliefs: They weave bags in which they express their history, and at the same time, they pay tribute to Mother Earth. The typical designs are geometric figures that symbolize elements of nature that surround the Wayuus.
Supporting Wayuu People
The survival of the Wayuu, the largest indigenous community in Colombia, is under threat. Indeed, most of them live below the poverty line and struggle daily to survive in the harsh desert. Thousands of their children died over the past decade from malnutrition and a lack of basic medical care.

There is hardly any basic infrastructure in La Guajira, and many of them have to walk for hours to reach the closest hospital. To make matters worse, in recent years the water supply became scarcer than ever. The largest open-pit coal mine of Latin America is located in their territory and it has diverted for itself much of the meagre water resources, leaving the Wayuu with dry wells or contaminated water.

Hunger and thirst never leave the Wayuu people. indeed, today the rate of chronic child malnutrition in the department is close to 30 per cent.

Under such circumstances, their handcrafts became one of the few sources of income for Wayuu families. Hence, acquiring our bags is a way to contribute to the welfare of this ancient community.

“Arte Wayuu” Association

We have been working since 2010 with “Arte Wayuu”, an association of Wayuu women living in La Guajira. This association is lead by Iris Aguilar, who learned the skills from her mother and her aunt. She dedicated her life to bring to light the drama of Wayuu people and promote their art. We buy the bags you can find on this website directly from “Arte Wayuu”.

Each bag is totally hand made and thus unique. Therefore, you may find slight variations or imperfections.