About Us
Our Ethos!
The Wayuu are an indigenous community of Colombia. The women of the community hand-produce wonderfully designed and individually hand-made bags (kato’u in their language Wayunaiki). The designs and patterns of these bags carry specific meanings in Wayuu culture and are central to their cultural traditions and economy. Each bag that you buy is an original design and a one off. While others, such as the monocolour bags also sold here, have been given a modern twist. At Akuaipa Artisans we work with local members of the Wayuu community to support the survival and growth of their language, weaving traditions and other cultural practices. This philosophy is expressed in our company’s name. Akuaipa means culture, tradition as well as knowledge in the Wayuu’s language. We buy the wonderfully designed and individually hand-made bags (kato’u in Wayunaiki) from our Wayuu colleagues at fair trade prices to support their artisanal traditions.
Impact on Environment:
Wayuu bags are durable and will last a lifetime if looked after regularly. They are made from a high quality blend of cotton and acrylic. They are handwoven by traditional artisans, which minimizes their impact on the environment. We ship the bags in from Colombia in order to minimize our carbon footprint. We also use 100% recyclable materials in all of our packaging.
How we source our bags:
Central to Akuaipa Artisans’ ethos is the protection and support of the Wayuu community and their talented Artisans. We deal directly with Artisans of three different clans and a number of Wayuu families. Our aim is to help the Artisans we work with to earn a respectable and just income. For example, we buy directly from the Cooperativa Mulitactiva de Artesanos (Multi-active Cooperative of Artisans).
See our signed agreement with this cooperative on this link.
See the original agreement in Spanish here.
Spotlight on one of our Artisans:
One of the members and a good friend of Akuaipa Artisans is Yasmira Uliana. She is an Artisan from the Comunidad de Jiraawaikat.
Her community’s ranchería (territory) resides between Riohacha and Maicao. Yasmiar learnt to weave the beautiful kanas (patterns) from her grandmother and mother. She has also been a schoolteacher and worked at the San Antonio school for Wayuu children for four years in Aremasain. She is currently training to be a sociologist and wants to contribute positively to the Wayuu community.
Photos of Yasmira and then her niece Maribel making mochilas in their territory.
Yasmira’s rancheria, where her family creates the bags, is more than just a place of work; it's a hub for local women to gather, learn, and pass on their skills. She is committed to sustainable practices, using natural fibres and dyes sourced directly from the region. Through her craft, she supports her community, empowering other women by providing training and fair wages. She is also keen to supply the family’s artisanal production to sellers from around the world, but only so long as they respect her clan’s traditional style of production. She is especially enthusiastic about her partnership with Akuaipa Artisans as we directly support the survival of her language and cultural traditions.
Our commitment to Wayuu culture and their language:
We also designate 10% of our profits to events and institutions that strengthen Wayuu cultural knowledge within and outside of the Wayuu community. We work directly with local indigenas schools and schoolteachers. With our wonderful Wayuu colleagues, we carry out workshops in these schools using bilingual Wayuu literature written in Spanish and Wayunaiki to help the next generation learn and preserve the Wayuu language and culture. For an example of this see following the link to read about the impact project with the Wayuu community carried out by Dr Paul McAleer, formerly with the University of Hull:
We will continue to support Dr McAleer's project which now has over 10 participating schools. We also work with the Wayuu institution Ana’a Akuaipa, which is dedicated to disseminating Wayuu knowledge among the Wayuu community.
Below is a photo of a workshop in the Wayuu school, Institucion Educativa Internado Indigena San Jose, organised by Dr Paul McAleer's educational project with Manuela Vegas (President of the Council of Indigenous Languages) and Estercilia Simanca Pushaina (Wayuu writer).
