***Edited to add Maya Alí started distributing in the USA in the 90s. Here’s a picture of one of her great grandmothers, Manuela Ventura, who started the company. This picture was taken in 2006. She lived up to be 107 years old! ***
Hello Huipil Life Tribe Readers!
I was so excited to see that Jacqueline had replied to my request! I learned just a smidge of Maya Alí and Co’s history through Jacqueline via email. She is the Head of Operations for Maya Alí and Co. Maya Alí and Co is known for their gorgeous huipil hand bags and accessories. And it gives me great pleasure to share it with you.
Maya Alí Convertible Day Bag made from tan leather and Chichi huipil.
“Hola Dulce!
That’s really cool! I’m glad you love all things artisanal. As far as our story, wooooooo it’s a very long and sad story that turned into a fun and colorful one. But I’ll try to summarize it as best as possible.
My family and I are all originally from Chichicastenango, Guatemala. My great grandmothers were the ones that started it all in 1920 if not further back. My great grandmothers were both single mothers. And well they had to feed their families somehow. That’s what motivated it all.
Chichi, Guatemala circa 1920
My great grandmothers lived through the worst times in Guatemala. They lived through the times of the war. When being indigenous meant being a target of extermination. Did you know between the years of the 60s to 70s, many indigenous people were massacred? It’s a very sad long story. But it was the times of the guerilla, when people had become fed up with the government and took a stand against them. A stand that ended in the massacre of many indigenous Guatemalans. Former president, Rios Montt, destroyed so many lives. Lives who were just fighting for a better life. And it wasn’t until recently, a couple of years ago, that he stood trial in Guatemala.
But why am I telling you this? Well, because even through it all, my great grandmothers managed to stay alive, AND keep all their children alive. My parents, and some uncles and aunts being the youngest, were sent out of the country. Fleeing, because kidnappings were happening. They all did come back over time.
But even through all the war, killings, discrimination etc, my great grandmothers, always reminded us to never be ashamed of being indigenous. To never be ashamed of the huipil or corte. To never be ashamed to speak dialect. And to never stop making our handmade goods, because through them we told stories. Even if it meant persecution. It is who we are. And so as years passed and generations have passed, even now in my generation, we take pride in carrying this day, 100% indigenous blood. 90% of my family still wear the huipil and corte, and still speak dialect, even my mother and father.
Maya Alí has been around for generations, the reason why we’re not huge like other companies online is, well to be honest, because my family isn’t really the computer online generation. Unlike my generation, we’re able to navigate easily through it. And it wasn’t until our generation that we entered the online world. But we’ve been around, for generations. My great grandmothers were the ones that started it all, and over the years we have continued it in our own way, modifying when needed to make our products better.
We work side by side with artisans, mainly because a lot of them are our family or family friends or people who once knew or knew of, our great grandmothers. Practically all the artisans we work with, we know. Which makes it even more fun and amazing! We try to use the best materials possible to give our customers quality products. As our grandmothers always said, quality over quantity.
Over the years, we always get asked two questions:
1. A lot of people ask us if we work with cooperatives, we don’t. Reason is, as I’m sure you know cooperatives work with locals helping them and showing them new techniques etc. But what about the Guatemalans who aren’t locals but instead live deep in Guatemala, where there’s no water, light, where their houses are built out of clay? Over the years as we’ve gotten bigger, we decided to expand, and meet new artisans, some of which are artisans that live deep in Guatemala.
We love that there’s cooperatives helping, it’s amazing! We just work with people who can’t be part of these cooperatives, either because they have no transportation, don’t have anyone to leave their children with, or there’s no roads! (we actually just worked with a woman whose only transportation is a boat, because there are no roads). But we also do this because our great grandmothers once asked us, if we were one day to expand, to expand in the rural areas of Guatemala, places where there’s too much poverty. Places that many didn’t know existed, but that they knew existed because it’s where they were born, and where they saw poverty first hand. And so, as we grew, we did as they wished. Today we work with family, friends, town locals, and new friends and people who live in aldeas, which are small communities deep in Guatemala.
2. We also get asked what sets us apart from other companies? Well first off, we love that there’s so many companies helping Guatemala! But as far as what sets us apart, I would say we’re indigenous, and we know a lot of truths about Guatemala.
Above all we are a simple group of family and friends that love Guatemala, and have continued making artisanal goods because its tells our story and our ancestors stories. Stories that we feel need to be heard by the world. Today, I’m head of all operations, and work closely with everyone. I try to always keep in mind what my grandmothers taught us. I try to keep it real and authentic, as it’s what my grandmothers always told us to do. We just started working with other parts of the country, mainly because it was always one of my grandmothers dreams. She always told us to never view anyone any different, that we were all the same. No matter their race or religion.
Huipil Life Tribe 