Two members of the Dumizay family with Genevieve at the Cesar pavilion, COP16, Cali

Dumizay · Manaure, Cesar · Colombia

Every thread tells a story.

Dumizay is a family weaving business in Manaure, Cesar. Its name comes from Iku, the Arhuaco language, and means wellbeing.

A family business with a wider circle.

Dumizay is led by Yasmin Ortiz and her daughter Yillibeth. Around 15 women weavers turn sheep's wool into mochilas and accessories, and 25 young people push them to try something new every day.

Every mochila carries the worldview of the Arhuaco people. The patterns and colours have meaning, and the knowledge passes from one generation to the next.

Genevieve met Yasmin at COP16 in Cali in October 2024. Since then Dumizay has been part of the Elev-Eight Collective, and Yillibeth wrote up the family's ancestral recipes for Mesa Madre, our collective recipe book.

What Dumizay carries.

Mochilas.

Woven by hand from sheep's wool by women weavers in Manaure.

Teaching.

Yasmin teaches ancestral weaving: the techniques, and what the patterns mean.

Recipes.

Maize, mountain cacao and river fish from the Arhuaco kitchen.

Young people.

A new generation bringing fresh ideas to an old craft.

Dumizay

Meet Yasmin and Yillibeth.

Yasmin is a mentor of ancestral weaving. She wants everyone who buys a mochila to know the story behind it, and the women who made it.

Her daughter Yillibeth is studying communications. She carries Dumizay's story into the digital world through the School of Elevation.

El maíz es vida, el cacao es corazón y el tubérculo es raíz.

Maize is life. Cacao is the heart. The tuber is the root.

From Dumizay's recipes for Mesa Madre.

See Mesa Madre →

What comes next is their call.

Mochilas.

A small collection, priced fairly and sold online with the story of who made each one.

Classes.

A short weaving course taught by Yasmin, made to work on a phone.

Stories.

Content made by Yillibeth and the young people of Dumizay.

Visits.

One day, perhaps, a visit to Manaure to learn from the weavers.

Dumizay is choosing which of these to build first.

Wellbeing, woven by hand.

Want to stock Dumizay's mochilas, book a weaving class or help build what comes next? Start a conversation.

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