The Making of Hamacas: A Colombian Tale

Pargo Project, album cover of La Hamaca Grande (2001), Adolfo Pacheco, 2022, Pargo Project Colombia.

Song: "La Hamaca Grande" by Adolfo Pacheco: A Vallenato song, from the Colombian folkloric genre of the Coast and Caribbean in Colombia, singing to the "land of the hammock", San Jacinto, and narrating the love and importance of this element for the culture, daily life and how it helps people move around and REST with it.

History of Hamacas in Colombia

• Currently, mainly sourced from 1) Barranquilla, in the Colombian Caribbean Coast, 2) from Wayùu Indigenous weavers and 3) San Jacinto weavers.
• La Tierra de la Hamaca: It is an important cultural and identity symbol for Indigenous and Mestizxs peoples, as its significance for functionality, transportation, spiritual and emotional value has been transhistorical, especially in warm weather regions.
• Etymology: Comes from the Taíno Indigenous language, meaning "tree", which could come from its function to be hanged from 2 trees, given their shadow to rest.

Front cover of El general en su laberinto, by Gabriel García Márquez, Editorial Sudamericana (Google).

('tis the OG Colombian hammock, let's hope I can make it like this lol)

Wayùu Culture

• Importance of hamacas for Wayùu culture; centre of social life in the communities, used to receive guests and travellers, conceived as "air beds", and were taught to construct them by the spider "Walker", as well as the diverse and unique patterns on them.
• Domestic space: Wayùu women inherited the weaving tradition through generations of women, it is heavily ingrained in women's culture and roles. Hammocks are woven in the outer patio, connected to the kitchen and laundry, to attend the functions that women are usually performing simultaneously. This tradition is extremely pervasive, especially in the Caribbean Coast towns, and even the most low-income houses, have a place in the patio destined to hang hammocks.

How-to: Build a hammock (online searches)

• Wiki How

 

(Hamaca estilo naval - strongest for taking weight)

https://es.wikihow.com/fabricar-una-hamaca

Bibliography

Artesanías de Colombia - Sistema de Información para la Artesanía SIART. “Colombia Artesanal: Tejeduría de San Jacinto, Elaborando Hamacas.” artesaniasdecolombia.com.co. Accessed September 2024. https://artesaniasdecolombia.com.co/PortalAC/Noticia/colombia-artesanal-tejeduria-de-san-jacinto-elaborando-hamacas_12109.

Goldbach, Josh. “3 Formas de Fabricar Una Hamaca.” wikiHow, January 23, 2021. https://es.wikihow.com/fabricar-una-hamaca. 

González Arévalo, Gladys. “La Tierra de La Hamaca.” Nueva Gaceta, May 29, 2023. https://nuevagaceta.co/la-tierra-de-la-hamaca. 

Mundo de Hamacas. “Selección de Las Más Sabrosas Hamacas y Chinchorros de Colombia.” Colombia : Un mundo de hamacas, para el auténtico amante de la hamaca., 2003. https://mundodehamacas.es/coleccion/hamacas/hamacas-por-pais/colombia. 

Pacheco, Adolfo. La Hamaca Grande. FM Entretenimiento, 2001, October 2024. https://open.spotify.com/track/5ueVbMgpB3ikVbMhlXXFRQ?si=e03eaf36f2d74015