Huipil is the Maya word for a womens blouse. Each village has distinctive styles and designs, and weaving is exclusively a woman’s activity. By weaving centuries-old designs alongside new innovative ones, Maya women creatively express their worldviews and cultural identities by wearing these clothes.

This huipil is one of several hundred in SMM’s collection. I chose because it demonstrates how SMM staff were some of the first museum professionals to venture into Chiapas, Mexico to study Maya weaving techniques. As a result of their efforts, a close relationship was fostered, and SMM became the reciepient of one of the best collections of contemporary Maya weavings in the United States.
- Tilly Laskey, Curator of Ethnology