WOOL OF THE COTTON DEER
The wool we use at Madda Studio is spun by hand with the pre-Hispanic spindle, by roughly 60 indigenous Chamula women from different villages in the highlands of Chiapas.
The Chamula - a Mayan group - have resisted cultural assimilation for hundreds of years, maintaining their language and customs. When they first saw a sheep - a species introduced by the Spanish after the conquest in the 16th century - the Chamulas named it "cotton deer", or “Tunim Chiji” in the Tsotsil language.
The wool of the cotton deer has distinctive tonal variability, from dark coffee to beige, grey, cream and white tones. We blend these colors to get our tones of wool. This subtle mix of nuanced color lends itself exceptionally well to a minimalist aesthetic.
Wool of the Cotton Deer: Raul Perezgrovas Garza “La Lana del Tunim Chij, el “Venado de Algodon”
Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas Instituto de Estudios Indigenas, 2005.