Community education in practice in Culiacán, Sinaloa

Conservation of Cultural Heritage in the San Lorenzo Valley, Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico: Preserving and Reconstructing Pre-Hispanic Crafts, including an educational project the aim of which is to conserve, restore, create and diffuse the culture of our pre-Hispanic ancestors.

The San Lorenzo valley, Culiacán, Sinaloa

We are a group of artisans who work independently in our community. Ten years ago we began a research project on Local Clays. This community cultural project on local materials arose from the experience of recovering the remains of pre-Hispanic objects, found in this area. The first objectives were to create pieces of craftwork using local materials native to our community of Navito in the ejido (community lands) of San Joaquín, in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Using ‘local materials native to our community of Navito’

We use these main ingredients in preparing our clay paste:-
• Surface clay, or common red/blue clay. As it is, this tends to be too sticky, though sometimes it contains sand or stone, so we work it in liquid form once it’s passed through the sieve to eliminate any impurities. Mixed with water it acquires high plasticity, and once heated above 800ºC additional sonority and strength
• River slime
• Sand
• Cane husks
• Bulrush ears as natural fibre.

‘Our pottery is based on transforming clay through fire...’

During the firing process, lasting 2-3 hours, the objects can reach 900-950ºC. On cooling they are removed from the kiln.
Since the launch of the project we have tried to recover some of the pre-Columbian designs from local Valley of San Lorenzo culture. These evolved over time, and our own products reflect this: they are the fruits of our labour in pottery workshops, made entirely by local participants, leading to group exhibitions of our art – the purpose being to raise awareness of and to promote the rescue of our archaeological zone.

‘We’ve tried to recover some of the pre-Columbian designs from local Valley of San Lorenzo culture’

Currently the community is applying for the area to be registered officially as an Archaeological Zone. In 2007, supported by staff from INAH (Mexico’s National Institute of Archaeology and History), and by local authority staff, local residents created a programme to protect the Zone, which until then had lain waste through neglect. Local INAH officials are now well aware of the cultural and educational programmes we now run.

‘Inspired by finding pre-Hispanic remains whilst doing field work...’

Thanks to this participation, the ejido management donated a piece of community land (15 x 20 metres) for the building of our own Community Museum, where we intend to install a pottery workshop. This has the widespread support of local families who see it as an important part of community development, and, by introducing a crafts market into the local economy, as a way to generate new sources of local income. We are also in the process of forming a cooperative for the extraction of our clays – our most important raw material.

‘We are also in the process of forming a cooperative for the extraction of our clays’

The information on the Mexicolore website is very valuable and broadens the perspective of our youngsters as they embark on their creative work. We remain committed to our community task of building a home that can showcase the archaeological objects recovered locally and to rescue the craftmaking tradition that has been abandoned in our community for far too long; ironically, local people have been using handmade tools and other objects in daily life without recognising the importance of the age-old techniques used in their creation.

‘Rescuing the craftmaking tradition that has been abandoned in our community for far too long’