Yenny Cárdenas Mepaquito | Uuphidag Tholau Wiquierdn

Colombia | Wounaan Werregue Palm Basketry

Yenny Cárdenas Mepaquito is a Wounaan master artisan and teacher from Unión Balsalito, in the Litoral del San Juan region of Chocó, Colombia. Her work is rooted in the Wounaan tradition of weaving werregue palm, a practice closely tied to territory, ecology, and community life in the Colombian Pacific rainforest.

Yenny learned to weave by observing elder women in her community, where basketry is not taught formally but absorbed through daily life. Over time, she came to understand weaving as both a technical skill and a form of cultural responsibility. In 2004, she founded the women’s weaving group Uuphidag Tholau Wiquierdn (“Handmade Women’s Work”), which today includes 85 women and supports more than 150 people directly.

Beyond this core group, Yenny works within a much wider production network. In total, approximately 500 Indigenous makers are involved in harvesting, preparing, and weaving werregue and chocolatillo fiber. Women are primarily responsible for weaving, while men collect palm shoots, extract fibers, gather firewood, and prepare materials. All makers are paid per finished piece through a cooperative structure designed to provide fair income in a remote region with limited market access.

Weaving begins with the careful harvesting of werregue palm shoots at specific moments in the lunar cycle to ensure regeneration. Fibers are cleaned, dried, and wrapped around an iraca core, with each basket built through calculated binding that determines its form, pattern, and strength. Designs reflect the Wounaan relationship to nature, territory, and prayer, using spirals, lines, and geometric structures that carry cultural meaning.

Yenny is also an educator. She teaches Arte Propio (traditional Wounaan art) at the David Pregorio School and helped found the Wounaan Educational Institution, which now serves 750 students through secondary school. Children begin learning to weave around age eight, ensuring generational continuity of both skill and language.

Materials are entirely natural and locally sourced, and palm extraction is managed carefully to protect long-term ecological balance. Recognition for this work includes a national honorable mention from Colombia’s Mujer Cafam Award, which honors women leaders working for community well-being.