Anyone who believed that Cecilia Acosta’s legacy would come to an end with her passing was completely mistaken. As if she had known she would leave soon, Cecilia devoted herself to teaching everything she knew—to her three daughters, Ixela, Blanca, and Ángela, as well as to countless young women and girls who today are skilled artisans and bearers of the Wayúu cultural legacy. She herself followed the lineage of her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother. She also prepared her three sons to become men capable of serving as traditional mediators when their time came, in addition to learning the craft of making pellones and weaving the straps of bags on the loom.

Everything about Cecilia was always rooted in preserving tradition and a deep bond with the land. She used to say that she had learned to weave “the threads of life from the age of seven,” and she heard from her mother, Ángela, that her grandmother’s seclusion had lasted seven years and that, of course, when she emerged she was not only a master weaver, but also surrounded by suitors. All the Acosta women—and now the Sabino Acosta women—have learned to perfect the weaving of the chinchorro, as well as mastering the loom for gauze weaving and the many knots and cords that go into making a mochila. Ixela, the youngest in the family and a remarkable Wayúu ambassador, says she dared to start learning to weave at the age of nine, two years before puberty, because everyone at the boarding school did it. So when she came of age, her seclusion lasted only ten days—just enough time to sit with her mother and prepare spiritually for this rite of passage. “I went in as a girl and came out as a woman; I had no adolescence,” she says without a hint of regret. She admits that at that moment her life’s mission became clear to her, even though she fainted when she saw that her precious long hair had been cut. And just as her two sisters had experienced before her, she came to understand the meaning of the kaanás—those figures that symbolize states of nature or movement and are woven into the mochilas: the interlaced pattern that represents the many crossings of paths in life that sometimes bring us back together with someone; the diamond shapes that celebrate the shell of the tortoise; or the star that signals the arrival of spring and, with it, the rains—an occasion of infinite joy that, quite rightly, gave its name to their workshop: Iwoúyaa.

Ixela explains that dreams are also essential in Wayúu culture. She vividly recalls that when she was a child, one night she woke up terrified after dreaming of a swarm of bees. When she ran to tell her mother, her mother took her to the bathroom and, with cold water, washed away any bad energy that might have attached itself to her body. The Wayúu believe in the omens of dreams, and bees announce misfortune or danger from which one must flee.

Cecilia was always interested in giving, so it was only natural that she would want to develop a project that allowed her to do so freely. Thus, she studied for a technical degree in tourism operations and later led artisanal and ethnotourism processes at the Iwouyáa Ranchería, where she served as the traditional authority. Today, her six children carry on her legacy. Ixela and Blanca weave with crochet needles; Ángela Vanessa manages the business; and Evaristo, Amilcar, and Alexis take care of the “men’s work” of the ranchería: working as teachers, slaughtering the goat, telling stories at night, and carrying out the weaving tasks that require greater strength, such as making the pellón or beating the loom.

There, visitors find a place to immerse themselves in their culture in a comfortable, entertaining, and respectful way. Moreover, more than 30 years ago, Cecilia founded, together with her sister, an ethno-educational institution called El Paraíso, dedicated to the education of Wayúu boys and girls, teaching them the word, respect, the value of community, their worldview, and their historical processes. They created a way of transmitting communal knowledge through weaving, gastronomy, dance, and cultural activities. It began as a project serving seven children, and today it has 11 sites that serve approximately 1,500 children, from preschool through eleventh grade. A true source of pride for this family. So too is the artisanal work of all those women whom Cecilia taught and with whom they collaborate on large projects. Today, this cultural legacy is part of the heritage of La Guajira and is safeguarded by these children who are in love with a craft whose driving force lies in dreams.