Your Name: Chana Freidl the Maker
Title of your Project: Itzlacoliuhqui – Weaving a Legend
Location: Barony of Bhakail
East Kingdom Wiki: https://wiki.eastkingdom.org/wiki/Chana_Freidl_the_Maker
Website/Blog Link: https://chanafreidlthemaker.wordpress.com/2020/05/02/aztec-storyboard/
Category: Fiber Arts
Documentation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vBHypi7r9ELTWn0gw1gVRxlrSxMnV38wuobafktSf8A/edit?usp=sharing
My local barony, the Barony of Bhakail, hosts its A&S championship at its yearly Yule event. I was quite happy to see that the theme of 2019’s competition was “Myths and Legends” as they happen to be two of my favorite things. Thinking over my options, I knew I needed to do something more original than weaving Santa Clauses on some trim. Nothing about historical weaving patterns really screamed “Myths and Legends” to me, so I took to the internet with a general search phrase of “winter myths.” I discovered a story of the creation myth of the Aztec god of winter, and thus my plan fell into place. I wrote a storyboard using simple pictograms to tell the story, and wove it into a band.
When I talk about my weaving experience in the SCA, I tell people I like to experiment instead of weaving the same historical bands everyone else has woven to prove their skill. I have always been fascinated by the history of South America, especially as it relates to fiber arts, so I decided to focus my work on the “new world” techniques and practices. Would the Aztecs have woven something like this? Absolutely not – it would have been considered a waste of valuable resources. Their textiles were vastly utilitarian – large, plainly woven pieces of fabric that could be cut up into garments with very little waste. If there was any decoration, it would have been simple geometric patterns or imagery of animals, and would be incorporated directly into the fabric, not as a separate band.
I entered this into my baronial competition five years ago, and it remains the piece I am most proud of. I took several comments made by the judges at that competition and remade the band during the Covid quarantine of 2020 in order to incorporate the notes about using a more appropriate weaving technique to the region. I would be thrilled to continue my weaving journey by producing more pieces from South America, and plan on doing that as time and resources allow. In the meantime, I present to you this legend!
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