Patricia was born and raised in Menetue, a Mapuche community located in the Andean zone of northern Patagonia. She is a düwekafe meaning an expert weaver, knitter and natural dyer of wool. She holds the living memory of her mother and other women who not only taught her how to raise sheep, wash, hand spin and dye wool, but also how to transform this material into meaningful household objects and everyday garments, such as the traditional manta (poncho), trariwes (women’s belts), fajas (men’s belts), among others. Although she has no daughters to hand over her knowledge, Patricia is eager to share all the teachings she has received and what she has self-explored on natural dyes, to other people of the territory.

Traditional weaving, as an everyday activity, not only creates warm, colorful and useful textiles appropriate to cold weather, but more importantly it reinforces the social fabric within a community or territory as transmission of knowledge takes place while threads are woven. It also strengthens the connection of people to the forests as native plants are gathered and used as natural dyes, which gives added value to the textile objects and greater territorial identity as everything comes from the inhabited land. These textile objects are inevitably full of traces of history, knowledge, roots and meaning, highlighting the importance of valuing textiles in their symbolic sense and in connection with the life story of each weaver.