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Eperara Siapidara Folk
Eperara Siapidara Folk
The Eperara Siapidara live along the rivers of Colombia’s Pacific lowlands. They speak Epéra Pedee (Chocó family) and preserve a forest-centered way of life. Their hallmark crafts are refined baskets and trays in local palm fibers, noted for clean geometry, natural dyes, and high durability. Designs echo river ecology and ritual memory.
Community
The handicraft process begins by extracting fiber from the teapot palm (Stromanthe jacquinii). Only the stem is used: it is pulled from the root, peeled, and shade-dried to prevent over-dehydration and loss of strength. Once dry, the stem is flattened to remove pulp, split lengthwise, and cleaned by hand or with a knife. Artisans then scrape liana-like sticks and dry the fibers in the sun until they reach the required hardness. The material is re-scraped and smoothed (“dolcesito”), then rubbed with a tawinga to soften and refine it. When the texture is ready, the fibers are opened, residual material (“teapot limpet”) is removed, and the strips are rubbed again to obtain final strands.
