“Mellita”, as her family calls her since she was a young girl, is a woman who decided to leave her mark teaching her wisdom to other Wayúu women. In doing so, she keeps alive the weaving secrets of her people, embodied in the legend of the Wale’ Keru spider.

Like her mother, she is a rebel. She did not marry: she chose to learn from her mother’s journey. The latter married a powerful husband, but she left him. He had more than 54 children scattered all across the Alta Guajira. This strong woman moved to Nazareth with her children and started a new life. With the help of her mother’s family, she received 15 hectares of land in Nazareth, a privileged place located at the foot of the Macuira National Park nicknamed the oasis of the Alta Guajira.

She established the community of El Paraíso there, where Mellita was raised among Franciscan nuns. She is now nearly 90 years old and remains in good health. She still weaves, like her mother, who lived until she was 106. María Eudoxia inherited her mother’s independent and dedicated character. Everyone ignores her Chritian name and calls her Memella thanks to her resemblance to her feisty mother. You can picture her driving a red Toyota 4×4. She carried her mochila bags and chinchorro hammocks in that truck, kicking up dust from the north to the south of the department. You can also picture her reaching Maicao and crossing the border to Maracaibo to sell or exchange her products or stocking the corner store she ran in Nazareth. Perhaps she got her confidence and strength from the saints she entrusted herself to: The Virgin of Carmen and the Virgin of Fátima. Her faith is infinite.

You can regularly find her praying the rosary for her loved ones. Memella learned the art of weaving by watching the women in her family. Her talent was discovered by the sisters running the boarding school where she lived. They asked her to teach the other young women to weave. After spending several years sharing her knowledge, Father Bernardino asked her to go to Manaure. There, she continued to teach the craft that ran through her veins for other two years. Then, she traveled to the city of Maracaibo in Venezuela to practice another craft she is passionate about: sewing. She worked in a shirt store for a couple of years until she returned to Colombia.

Afterwards, she worked as a teacher in an all-girls school for 15 years and ensured the survival of her knowledge. She entrusted those girls with the secrets of Wayúu weaving. Later on, she taught her niece Adilen, who sees her as a mother figure and affectionately calls her “mama”. Nowadays, she weaves by her side and goes with her to all her adventures through La Guajira. Her niece is even introducing her to the world of marketing and social media. They are also developing a community enterprise to keep the traditions of this privileged place in La Guajira alive.

As Memella says, “Other women need to learn to love their roots. They are famous today because of the quality of their products, the colors and the shapes of their traditions.”