Joseph Fabish

How Status Was Conveyed in the Ancient Art of Inca Textiles

Joseph H. Fabish was not only an enthusiast of Peruvian culture and history, but he traveled extensively to the country to study the Inca Empire. Of the many Peruvian culture and history subjects, Joseph Fabish had a particular interest in Inca weaving.

Inca weaving traditions conveyed position and status in a community. The practice of weaving in this region dates back almost 8,000 years BC. The Inca tradition did not appear on the scene until the early 15th century.

The Incas weaved textiles relying on two different styles. The first was to use a backstrap loom, strapped around the person’s waist and back and anchored to a solid wall, tree, or wire where they weaved. The more labor-intensive twining involved braiding threads, and while it was more work, it allowed for more versatility in the types of patterns one created in the textile.

The materials used in making these textile products included cotton that they procured through trade with Amazonian and coastal people. They also used animal fur from alpacas, llamas, and vicuna. For example, Chusi was a coarse cloth used to make bags, blankets, and rugs.

Outside of this, the two other textiles used signified the person’s position in the community. The first type of textile produced through weaving was the Awaska, which was a standard, thick garment Incas in the lower classes living in the Andean highlands wore.

Nobility and royalty wore Qompi (kumpi), which were woven from more refined materials. The materials were produced through state-run entities called Allca, which were women chosen to weave for the nobility (including the emperor), and Qompi-Kamayok, who were male weavers that produced textiles for the state.

The materials used for the nobility were often derived from baby alpaca and vicuna. The textiles contained rich designs and had a thread count of 600 threads per inch.

Nawpa Pacha Educates and Gives Insight on Andean History

Joseph H. Fabish spent his entire career studying Peruvian culture and history, having traveled to the country every so often in the course of three decades. During the course of his academic career, Joseph Fabish was not only a member of, but he also presented at the Institute of Andean Studies located in Berkeley.

Of its many activities, the Institute of Andean Studies publishes research through the academic publication Nawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Culture. Established in 1960, the Institute of Andean Studies was created to advance the research and study of archaeology, history, linguistics, ethnology, and biology of the indigenous people in Colombia and those who previously comprised the Inca Empire (northwestern Argentina, northern Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru). While located in Berkeley, the Institute is also a volunteer organization with no connections with the University of California or other government agencies.

Established in 1963, the Nawpa Pacha is the Institute journal, which publishes articles twice a year in December and June. The journal is accessible both in hard copy and online (through the Institute website). The publication’s circulation includes complimentary copies sent to Latin American countries and 2,700 institutional subscriptions through JSTOR and individual subscriptions.

The content published in the journal is similar to the research mission of the Institute, which is to publish research related to the abovementioned topics. Typically, the research is published in the language of the article author. Also, the research must be conducted legally and ethically to be considered for publication.

Nawpa Pacha Educates and Gives Insight on Andean History

Characteristics of the Andean Textile Culture

Joseph H. Fabish earned an associate of arts from Glendale Community College and a bachelor of science in geology from California State University, Los Angeles. In the South American country of Peru, Joseph Fabish spent many years researching and studying Peruvian, Incan, and Andean textile culture and history which he documented extensively in his co-authored book “Andamarcan Textiles: An Elite Inca Weaving Tradition from Peru Found on the Ancient Lands of the Haciendas Sinsicapa (San Ignacio) and Tulpo” which can be found on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Andamarcan-Textiles-Tradition-Haciendas-Sinsicapa/dp/0578714051

The book chronicles the history and development of weaving practices in modern-day Peruvian weaving culture in a unique remote region of northern Peru. It also documents how weaving was one of the fundamental art activities and occupations of the Incas. The chilly Andes peaks and the hot and humid Atlantic coast greatly influenced the weaving traditions.

While the modern-day Peruvian weaving practices in Huamachuco vary from the bygone ones significantly, it’s evident that the Huamachuco textile and weaving traditions have inextricable Incan legacies and influence. They thus represent a complex past as works of art and a semi-rediscovered lost language of the Incans as expressed through complex weaving traditions and patterns – connecting the outsider with rich and complex traditions of the present and simultaneously giving the viewer a rare glimpse of the Inca past.

Blanket Weaving Traditions of the Huamachuco Highlands

Joseph H. Fabish is an expert on Peruvian textile traditions, from pre-Incan to contemporary times. As he describes it in the article “The Royal Inca Weavers of Huamachuco,” Joseph Fabish’s interest in this tradition came about during a visit to Peru in 1977, at a time when highland Andes villages such as Mollepata, Tulpo, and Mollebamba could only be reached by horse or on foot.

As Joseph H. Fabish describes in his book, “Andamarcan Textiles: An Elite Inca Weaving Tradition from Peru Found on the Ancient Lands of the Haciendas Sinsicapa (San Ignacio) and Tulpo,” the Tulpo hacienda spans lands that traditionally served as soto reales, or royal pastures for domesticated alpacas and llamas. This lasted for several centuries, from the Inca Huayna Capac era to the late 16th century. During this time, the camelids’ fleece was used in weaving cumbi, a tapestry-like blanket favored by nobles in Inca and Huamachuco society. This cumbi weaving style was also incorporated in unique and colorful hand-woven belts. These traditions persisted, even as the native camelids of pre-Hispanic times gave way to herds of Merino sheep. Even in the late 20th century, pre-Hispanic callua back-strap looms were still in use in highland communities when crafting striped blankets. For checkerboard patterned blankets, treadle looms dating back to colonial times were used.