Weaving her way

Reporter Maria Zamudia and I recently took on an enterprise story to revisit the Trique community in Monterey County. Many indigenous people from the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico moved to make a home in Greenfield, California, where jobs in the fields promise some income. They bring a vibrant, beautiful culture, but the Trique people recently received a great amount of notoriety for the practice of selling young girls into marriage. A local man was arrested in January 2009 for arranging for his 14-year-old daughter to marry a neighbor in exchange for $16,000. The headline made national news, like “Man accused of selling daughter for cash, beer.”

The swarm of media attention that came down upon the Trique people in Greenfield caused many to have a healthy distrust of any reporter or photographer. So as Maria and I walked along the streets of Greenfield trying to revisit the story, we had some fears of how we might reconnect to the community. And then we met Gloria.

Gloria Merino is a 4-foot-10-inch woman with gnarled, tiny hands and an incredible story. She was sold into marriage when she was only 8-year-old, but has finally gained personal independence at the age of 42 by supporting herself with traditional weaving. Gloria was kind enough to share her experiences with Maria and I, and even performed a traditional ceremony on me (more on that later).

The video below is wonderfully narrated by multi-talented Maria, and you can read her full story by clicking here.

Weaving her way to freedom from Conner Jay on Vimeo.