PASTOS PEOPLE
On the high plateau that Colombians call Núdo de los Pastos, a knot of mountains and misty páramos stretching some 3,000 meters above sea level in the department of Nariño, southern Colombia, one of the country's largest and most vibrant indigenous peoples has lived for millennia: the Pastos. Today, their presence is recognized in twenty-five indigenous resguardos that inhabit the entire plateau.
Approximately 120,000 people identify as Pastos (DANE), and 95% of them live in the department of Nariño. Their territory is an extreme and generous land dotted with volcanoes and lagoons where myths of origin unfold. It is in this landscape that the Pastos have built their worldview over the centuries.
CRAFTSMANSHIP
To understand Pastos craftsmanship, one must first try to understand their way of thinking about the world. At the heart of their cosmology is a philosophical principle that scholars call Andean duality: the belief that everything that exists is made up of pairs of opposites that complement each other in a single balance. The world does not function despite tensions: it functions through them.
This principle is manifested in textiles with the chiaroscuro technique, where combinations of light and dark threads create the designs; it is expressed in the structure of the guanga (the traditional loom), which represents the four cardinal directions and the four elements. It materializes in the petroglyphs: the engraved stones in Nariño, which bear spirals, geometric figures, and zoomorphic motifs.
The patterns of Pasto fabric are motifs born from a weave of incompatible and complementary relationships: true interpretations of the territory that are translated into symbols, woven, and handed down. The artisan's hands observe, interpret, and transcribe the landscape.
Guanga tiles
A traditional and fundamental craft for the life of the Pastos people is weaving on a pre-Columbian vertical loom: the guanga. This tool is a wooden structure consisting of four planks tied at the ends to create a square or rectangular space in the center, where the warp and then the weft are created. The dimensions can vary depending on the needs, and it is a fundamental part of the home. Learning to weave, for a Pasto woman, meant entering adulthood.
The fibers used today in Pasto communities are mainly sheep's wool, which can be obtained from local animals and spun by hand with wooden spindles, or already prepared into taut, smooth threads. Traditional dyeing takes place with natural substances extracted from the territory: nogal (walnut) leaves give yellow-brown tones; cochinilla (cochineal collected from cacti) produces carmine red; Andean indigofera gives blue; the roots of various páramo plants give ocher, moss green, bronze.
Ruanas
From the guanga loom come products for daily and identity use: ruanas — the traditional cloak or poncho —, cobijas — heavy blankets for the cold nights of the páramo —, or fajas or chumbe — colorful belts used to tighten clothes but also as a sign of ethnic identity. And also scarves, shawls, rugs, or other garments.
Craftsmanship, resilience, economy
The Pasto people of Nariño today face challenges that test centuries of resilience: the pressure of agribusiness, climate change altering the rhythm of the páramo and harvests, the migration of young people to cities, and competition from industrial products that imitate indigenous aesthetics without recognizing or compensating their creators. Yet, precisely in response to these pressures, a form of resistance that looks to the future is emerging.
For many Pasto families—especially women—craftsmanship represents the main source of income in high mountain territories. At Chisakuï, we have selected pieces woven in guanga by Pasto artisans who, together with designer Flor Imbacuan, are carrying forward a fashion project that combines traditional knowledge, the mastery of weaving and textile processing, with silhouettes, combinations, and a design that goes beyond contemporary; they are true timeless textile works. We were enchanted by the spontaneity and fluidity of the fabrics, how they wrap the body with grace, finesse, and elegance. Furthermore, the versatility of these garments is another element we love. Each piece can be worn in different ways, always depending on your creativity and mood of the day!
Carrying a handcrafted item woven by Pasto women means proudly carrying fragments of stories from the Nudo de los Pastos, capable of transmitting and building many other worlds inspired by those landscapes that have nurtured the imagination shaped through millenary guangas.