ACHOTE Handicrafts
Indigenous Handicrafts
The brand ACHOTE Handicrafts embrace very Special Original Indigenous Handicrafts from various parts of Latin America which come directly from an Indigenous communities who have created those crafts as a part of their ancestral millenial culture and cosmology. These Indigenous Handicrafts have beside of their ptactical purpose also a very deep meaning and its decorative purpose is just a small part of their creation.
These wickerwork belongs to cultural patrimony of an indigenous Chachi people from Ecuador. They do use these items in their daily life. Their living is based on fishing as they do live on the river banks of strong Cayapas River. The material comes from green soft palm leaves called Paja Toquilla, which pass through longer process of drying and molding in order to get dry fibers to be ready for entanglement and creation those unique craft pieces.
This Wicker vase comes from the deep part of the Amazonian rainforest of the eastern part of Colombia. The Indigenous community lives in place called Mitú.
Musical instrument from Colombia was made by Indigenous community Inga from Putumayo, in the south of Colombia. The seeds are Ox´s eye in combination with Acai seeds and the wooden stick is made from Chonta palm. Local taitas or shamans use this item ocasionally during their ceremonies.
The Necklace is made from the Seeds of Mamey fruit in the combination with glass beads. It comes from South of Colombia - Putumayo region where the local shamans from the Indigenous ethnic groups of Xionas, Kamentsá and Pastos are using it as a musical instrument during their ceremonies.
Rings made from the natural seed Tagua are crafted by mestic and indigenous artisans in COLOMBIA and ECUADOR. Tagua is the hardened fruit of the Ivory-nut Palm Tree (Phytelephas Macrocarpa) or also known as Macrocarpa (Phytelephas Seemannij). It flourishes in the tropical forests from Paraguay to Panama and in South America, especially in Colombia and Ecuador forms an integral part of the local eco-system.
This nut is an almond-white, hard, smooth, opaque nut and has a similar texture to ivory. It is an eco-friendly product and sustainable material. It can easily be dyed and cut or carved to create stunning and unique sculptures, beeds, slices, buttons and more. Many American and European designers as us begin to include this material in their collections to replace ivory.
Therefore, Tagua proved to be a sustainable substitute for elephant and whale ivory because of its properties and similarities.
Tagua is a wild fruit, which grows in tropical forests under loads of other trees which provide it with shade. It is almost impossible to reproduce the conditions and type of soil in which is able to grow. There are male and female trees and only the female bears the fruit. Tagua reproduces itself when the fruit falls on the ground, many start to take root and become fully grown palms.
The fruit required for craft making can only be collected when it falls on the ground, if collected before, it will not harden and it cannot be used for crafts. Only a small percentage of the Tagua is collected to encourage forest growth. Wildlife feeds from the outer layers of the fruit leaving the fruit behind and making it easy to collect.It had been used by indigenous cultures of South America for thousands of years and is even said to give powers of attraction and fertility.