#chiapas

#chiapas

Here dwells the indigenous Tzotzil community which has kept a pastoral way of life against the march of time. Apart from the odd forest ranger and passerby, Ruvalcaba's film focuses almost entirely on the Tzotzil women. Together, they tend herds of sheep which they still shear by hand, and use traditional tools for spinning yarns and natural dye for fabrics.

In 1991, the Mexican state of Chiapas was the epicenter of the first eradication of the cattle screwworm infestation in history. An old sterile fly plant, which operated for about seven years in Chiapa de Corzo about nine miles from the capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez once produced millions of flies that achieved that initial victory over the pest. Now, 34 years later, the same disease is causing alarm in North and Central America.