Puebla (Mexico) (EFE).- The natural red color preserves its pre-Hispanic essence in the municipality of Hueyapan, in the state of Puebla, central Mexico, where a group of women preserves the breeding, treatment and use of the grana cochineal ( Dactylopius coccus), an insect that naturally provides red dye.
Members of the organization “Mujer, conservando raíces” who are dedicated to embroidering garments by hand, decided in 2010 to start raising this little animal that their parents or grandparents used to paint the canvases on which they would begin to capture their ideas.
Grana cochineal, a unique and versatile product
Cochineal production only occurs twice a year and it is a process that is carried out manually, which is why the cost of selling the powdered dye and the elaborated garments is usually high.
It is in a greenhouse where the work begins where nopales (cactus) are placed, which host the grana cochineal, a parasitic insect of the nopal, because these insects adhere to incubate their eggs, so that when they are large they are removed to give them treatment.
It all starts with the preparation of the nopal, which is placed on clotheslines (hangers) where they will remain for six months before being harvested. They are constantly supervised, once they are full of white dots with a metal spoon and a tray, they begin to scrape. slowly each nopal to make them fall, it is a slow process to prevent them from being damaged and bursting.
Once they are in the containers they are placed in a strainer to sift the eggs into green nopales and they adhere to produce more cochineal and start the process once again.
After they are separated, they lose their life naturally and are taken to the grinding process, which is carried out with a metate (stone of pre-Hispanic origin that is used to grind food manually), to make them powder and that they remain of red tone.
The final process is preparing water with alum salt stones and tequesquite that will help to fix the natural color in the wool, more than 15 shades can be created with the same ink, because it depends on the temperature of the water, that is, if it’s warm, cold, boiling hot, or at different temperatures, so it can look red, wine, pink, rosewood, and deep reds.
Artesanal job
Rosa Hernández Lucas, a cochineal producer, told EFE that she has been working with this insect for 13 years and it has become her source of family income, together with seven women who embroider garments.
He said that there are few people who value the work that is done, for this reason when they see the prices “they want to haggle” (ask for a reduction in the price), since they are high”, however, he assured that “there are people who a Once the work is explained to them, they buy the garments, regardless of the cost”.
He explained that there are pieces of 300 pesos (about 17.5 dollars) such as bags, face masks, cell phone holders, as well as more expensive items, 2,000 pesos (116 dollars) that can be scarves and blouses.
While the sweaters reach up to 4,000 pesos (233 dollars) and the works with the highest value are the shawls or shawls that measure 2 meters long and 80 centimeters wide that reach 12,000 pesos (700 dollars) and take approximately one year to its elaboration.
Meanwhile, Alma Rosa Martínez Hernández, daughter of the producer, assured that she feels “proud to know how to work a pre-Hispanic art” and that her mother has taught her, so she also wants this tradition to prevail and keep the roots of her heritage alive. municipality.
“Knowing the process that is carried out makes me feel very proud, because knowing the work in depth, the work of the artisan hands that her mother has and the people of the municipality that saw her born.”