Words: Josie Collier

“Entra, siéntate, entra, siéntate,” the words floated upward from a woman that could not have been up to my shoulder. Ombre gray hair fell in two braids across her shoulders, purple-rimmed glasses matched the shade of her wool sweater, and her legs sped back and forth from the dining room to countertop—a gorgeous, cross-sectioned piece of wood that stretched the length of the kitchen. Her name was Gladys Cavero Huernante, she was our chef and our host for the afternoon. 

Following orders, I filed into her home. A floor-to-ceiling window cast a sobering light on a dusted, standing bar cart from the 70s. Just a few feet above the cart was another antiquity, a floating head painting of Felipe Camiroaga—an adored Chilean television presenter that had died in a plane crash. 

“Many women lost their loved one that day,” Josefin, a guide from Hotel AWA Puerto Varas recalled. Hotel AWA had organized the excursion for their guests to learn about local, cultural heritage with Gladys. Now we all sat quietly, each slicing an unknown cut of beef topped with peas and diced carrots. Little did we know, but as we ate, a more stark reminder of death and time was just a few feet farther into the kitchen. 

Gladys had prepared our meal on her husband’s eventual coffin. The impromptu wooden countertop was set up for prep while an industrial-size stove top and oven fired the meat. Setting up a lunch from a coffin was an unexpected development for an afternoon of our intended agenda: wool spinning and weaving. 

Josefin reminded us that in a location like Gladys’s home, just off of the famous Carretera Austral (the highway connecting all of Patagonia), funeral homes are not exactly prevalent. Her home sits at the rural meeting point of volcanoes, national parks, mountain ranges, endless rivers and lakes of the Northern Patagonia Lakes District region in Chile, a far-cry from modern conveniences and, yes, even morbidities like final resting places.

Gladys said she saw a beautiful tree and thought it best for her husband's coffin. But, the wood was too pretty to be placed in the ground. It needed to be seen. 

Preparation and pride was layered in her tone and it followed into the room behind the counter.  A corridor of wool blankets, yarn, and wood weaving tools lined the walls. Gladys spun la llana into balls of blue, white and gray. Josefin translated from English to Spanish for Gladys: “How long does it take to spin a ball of yarn?” 

A confident shoulder shrug: una hora. An hour was a blip in the 150+ year-old Chilean tradition. She proceeded to spin and trace her fingers back and forth between the loom, creating intricate blankets and other wool pieces. Gladys learned this cultural practice of weaving from her mother. Now, Gladys has 20 grandchildren from the seven children of her own (though only one continues to participate in the business). 

Gladys is part of the Fundación de Artesanías de Chile, a private, non-profit organization that aims to keep authentic and historical craft traditions alive. The foundation works with basket-weaving, pottery, and looming artisans, where more than 70% live in rural areas like Gladys. The organization is certified as a “Fair Trade” by the World Fair Trade Organization. 

Twenty steps from Gladys’s home is another one-story structure. This one is filled with bags of wool, and a sorting table for the dirty and clean wool. Here, with the help of the foundation, Gladys facilitates the “Banco de Llana.” This wool bank is an artisan hub for weighing, selling and purchasing wool, and sometimes Gladys teaches children how to loom and weave. 

Fundación de Artesanías de Chile has partnered with Hotel AWA Puerto Varas in the Lakes District Region of Northern Patagonia Chile. Sitting on the lakefront of Llago Llanquihue, the hotel’s brutalist, glass edifice is complemented by the natural beauty of Volcano Osorno views from just about every room. The prime location of the property makes it a welcoming home base after a long day of exploring the region via foot, kayak or bike through the hotel’s in-house guided excursions. 

Hotel AWA Puerto Varas also works with local artisans like Gladys, offering cultural excursions for their guests to learn about the traditions of loom weaving and basket weaving, among others. This unique excursion was inspired by a recent award designated to the region. In 2023, the Lakes District housed two World Craft Cities, which identified the artisans in the region as experts in their respective cultural crafts. , 

The hotel is a B Corp certified business, recognized for their sustainable economic and environmental impacts. The marriage of these two organizations has helped open up new doors and recognition for old trades and trained craftspeople. 

Still, even with the recognition of both the Fundacion and Hotel AWA, Gladys says one of the biggest issues she faces is the tradition’s dying popularity among the younger generations. 

“The government really wants this tradition to stay alive. They're putting time, money and effort resources into it,” another Hotel AWA guide, Alan adds during our afternoon with Gladys.

While the population and economic growth of the Lakes District Region increases in the cities such as Puerto Varas due to tourism, rural populations in the area are actually decreasing. 

“The younger people are not very excited about [continuing these traditions],” Alan says. “They want to go to the big cities and get a job.” 

Alan also says that artisans can spend long days at the market and only sell one item. With those kinds of returns, younger folks are opting to take their chances in urban centers or join the local salmon industry, an industry that, in Chile, employs more than 70,000 people and surmounts $4 billion worth of exports each year.

Currently, Fundación de Artesanías de Chile works with about 2,300 artisans to level that playing field. The organization now hosts a physical storefront in the city of Puerto Varas in the Lakes District for artisans to sell their crafts. It’s not an easy existence, as sales of these handmade products are not promised amid fluctuating consumer demands, but it provides a solid platform for Gladys and her fellow artisans to build from.

A majority of Gladys’ own children have gone to the cities in Chile for a job. Now, it is her and her (very alive) husband in their home. His 90th birthday is coming up, as is their 60th wedding anniversary. This lake-filled region has been their home for the entirety of that love story. Weaving has also been a constant over all those decades, a local artform now dwindling from Gladys’s thread.

“We cannot lose this heritage,” she says. “I fight for it.”