Postcards from the Isthmus.
Postcard #1:
“I was born in the Zapotec¹ land, located in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec², Oaxaca. While most people are born naked, I was born wearing a huipil³ and an enagua⁴. I grew up with this skin and I have never changed it.”
By Abril Cabrera @getfreeeeeeeeee
Photo: Alexis Gómez @alexisgomez
“Is she going to a party?” People of my town ask themselves when they see me passing by in an enagua and a huipil, as if this was the only place allowed to wear them. Most people have had a hard time understanding the fact that young women would dress this way without necessarily going to a party, being married, or being widowed.
For me, wearing regional costumes from the Isthmus has become a way to understand in depth my social context. It is not mandatory to attend a party for wearing them, it's simply to make them part of your day; from working at home to shopping.
I have never felt ashamed. Instead, I am very proud of having a great collection of huipiles and enaguas handcrafted in different communities from the Isthmus. Each one tells it’s own story and has an incredible context in which it has been crafted.
Several years ago, I began sharing some self-portraits with my Istmeña dress with the sole purpose of promoting and normalizing its wearability in young women. Even though this way of dressing has become, in one way or another, a form of resistance for our communities, it’s also the best way to understand, love, and respect our roots.
For me, wearing clothes from the Isthmus and from anywhere else in the world should always be an act of respect for the culture, the artisan and the history behind each piece.
Being born with a huipil and an enagua makes me always keep in mind who I am. Even if I am far from home studying, working or doing other activities different from what I would do in my town, my traditions will never oppose my way of being. By understanding the union of both contexts I’ve learned to know myself even better.”
Abril Cabrera
¹ Zapotec: Be'ena'a which means "The Cloud People" is an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization originated in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico in the late 6th century BC and, till the date, it is considered one of the most highly developed cultures of Mesoamerica. Nowadays, the population is estimated at approximately 800,000 to 1,000,000 persons, many of whom are monolingual in one of the native Zapotec languages and dialects.
² Isthmus of Tehuantepec: [tewanteˈpek] The shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. It belongs to the Tehuantepec municipality, located in the southeast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
³ Huipil: [ˈwipil]: traditional dress/tunic initially worn by indigenous women from the Mesoamerican region (central Mexico to Central America) since before the Conquest of Mexico by the Spanish and it’s still the most common indigenous garment worn by women till the date.
⁴ Enagua: [eh-nah-gwah] As it is mostly identified as a piece of clothing worn as an undergarment, in some Mexican communities it is known as an outer garment, a skirt.