Fifty-three individuals generously donated over 1,000 woven garments, household items, jewelry, books, pottery, and tourist items from Mesoamerica and other parts of Latin America to Weaving for Justice to raise funds for scholarships for Maya children and youth. The photo above is of one special donor family – Robert and Miriam Laughlin and their daughter Liana. It is 1960 and Bob and Mimi are with Liana and her godfather, Romin Teratol of Zinacantán, Chiapas. Romin became Bob’s partner in his research on the Tsotsil language of Zinacantán. Bob went on to become a renowned linguist of Mayan languages, Mimi a writer of short stories about life in highland Chiapas. Both Bob and Romin have passed on. Romin’s son, Xun, is now Director of Sna Jtzi’bajom (House of the Writer), an organization of Maya writers in San Cristóbal de Las Casas which mentors University students who will benefit from this fundraiser.
All proceeds from sales of donations will go to Maya students in Belize, Guatemala, and Chiapas, Mexico to help them continue studying, despite the many obstacles they face. Weaving for Justice partners with the Maya Educational Foundation in this project: mayaedufound.org Contact weavingforjustice@gmail.com for more information.
The sale will be held on Friday October 29th & Saturday October 30th, 2021, 11 am – 5 pm in the NMSU University Museum Courtyard, Kent Hall, 1280 E. University Ave., Las Cruces, New Mexico. Parking is free on campus on Saturdays. Other days single-day and weekly visits parking permits are available through the NMSU website: https://park.nmsu.edu/visitor. For more information about the Museum and the current exhibit of Maya textiles from Chiapas – When a Woman Rises: Maya Weavers Creating Relationships Through Textiles – visit https://univmuseum.nmsu.edu/
