Surviving as artisans: Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities inhabit South America's remote biodiversity hotspot-the Choco' region in Northwest Colombia.This is a tropical rainforest on the Colombian Pacific's coast. They inhabit the delt of San Juan River, exactly the name of the town is Pichima'.

Overtime, they have been affected by floods, displacement and violence and suffer from high levels of poverty and the consecuences of conflict in the area.

For numerous reasons underprivileged and impoverished indigenous artisans living in the Choco' region, their arts and crafts serves as a primary source of economic stability and for the survival of their cultural heritage.

The Choco' region artisans belongs to the Embera' and Wounan ethnicities and weave baskets-works and plates in Werregue (also guerregue)- the most elegant of fiber handicrafts,unique to South America. Anthropologists believe that their weaving traditions and use of werregue migrated from Africa as is evidenced in the exactness, coordination and rhythm that allows the desired forms to be obtained and the harmony in the exclusive selection of combinations in each design.

Weaving a Werregue basket: While women weave the baskets, men are in charge of finding the Werregue fiber, which is obtained from a 20 to 30 meter high palm tree with a thorny trunk. The sprouts are removed to extract ribbon-like strps that are later turned into strands.

Dueto the unique construction methods used for werregue baskets, it takes several days (from 30 to 60 days) to several months for an artisan to make each basket. Each is a work of art in itself, and no two are alike. The baskets are lined internally so they hold water. The baskets are used by the local people to carry water from the rivers and lakes into the village. Inside and out, the baskets look like they're completely made of woven palm; the secret water shield is buried among the layers of the basket. Because of this, it is heavier than you would expect a basket to be. The palm fibers are also dense and slick, adding to the solid feel of these specially crafted pieces.

Originally, the Wounnan women created Werregue vases with a texture so solid and compact that they could be used to carry water. At present and in response to the interest of the public for their arts and crafts the Wounan-Embera combined the Werregue fiber with new materials. The result was not only baskets and vases, but also dishes and plates in which they blen the Werregue fiber with native woods creating an exclusive masterpiece.

Werregue handicrafts have been widely accepted in national and international markets by virtue of their beauty, elegance, ingenuity and positive impact that each product makes in the life of an indigenous artisan. Unique to Colombia.Within the designs used on them we could name pictoral images from the Wounan-Embera mythology, geometric shapes and schematic representations of men and animals.

All these figures depicted in a symmetrical balanced way, thus exhibiting the Indian view of the universe related to mankind.

The natural inks used to colour the baskets and plates, as well as the fibers are obtained according to environmental guidelines. Amost them pigments obtained from the Annato seeds, with their orange, reddish and tones of the juice of Jagua (genipa americana) fruit is used as a black dye.Also throug the Asssociaton of Indigenous workers Wounan-Embera the sales of the product are Fair trade and benefits their community.

Basketry is a feminine occupation.They use a spiral technique to make the baskets. Using a spiral technique, they roll the flexible werregue fibers and sew them to the base and then work on the sides until they achieve a basket called “coca”.

Their craftsmanship, detail, and the tight weaving of the fibers are easy to appreciate. They are extremely beautiful and also durable. Beneath the top layers of fiber you can see the tight coils used to shape the baskets. They are coiled tigher and of smaller diameter at the bottom of the basket. They grow as the basket widens out and they narrow again at the narrowest part of the neck below the rim.

The Indigenous are also dedicated to agriculture, hunting and fishing. ( source BSD Consultores, Bogota', Colombia)