San Pablito is situated in a semi-tropical region bordering the states of Hidalgo to the west and Veracruz to the east, approximately 180 kilometers from Mexico City. It is surrounded by other small villages inhabited by Otomi and Nahua Indians, both of Aztec descent and each with their own language, Otomi and Nahuatl. Most of the men and some of the women in San Pablito also speak Spanish. The largest village in the area, Pahuatlan, serves as the municipal government and commercial center for all of the surrounding communities. There are two small hotels, a few tiny restaurants, and several shops where one can purchase things unavailable in the villages. On Sundays members of the surrounding communities come to a big market there, to sell their cash crops of fruit, corn, potatoes, beans, peanuts, coffee, and chiles. Most families come from the villages every week, not only to sell or buy groceries, but also to socialize. San Pablito, with a population of two thousand, is the largest of the indigenous communities. Only about 10% of the villagers dedicate themselves to papermaking. The majority of the community choose to farm their own land or travel to neighboring Tulancingo or Mexico City to work in factories. Many women spend the week in Mexico City, where they work as maids, and return home on the weekends. At first glance amate papermaking may appear simple and easy to imitate but, like any papermaking method, there is an art to obtaining good bark, preparing the fiber, and forming, drying, and curating the sheets. It is a traditional craft with an important cultural context. For the papermakers of San Pablito amate papermaking represents a way of life that has been passed on for generations. Many do not consider amate paper a true paper. They classify it as a proto-paper, like tapa and bark cloth, because the maker does not disperse the fiber in water during manufacture but pounds it directly onto boards. Regardless of amate's technical classification, the Otomis certainly consider themselves skilled papermakers and take much pride in their work. The first amate paper was made over two thousand years ago. The Aztecs gave amate paper to their rulers as tribute and used it in rituals and for inscribing their codices. The Aztecs brought as much as 480,000 sheets of paper yearly to their emperor, Montezuma II. At its height, amate paper was produced throughout a large area of Mexico by village curanderos and was associated with religious ceremonies and traditional healing. During this period of the early sixteenth century, over forty-two villages made amate paper. Today, San Pablito remains the sole producer of this material. After the Spanish conquest of Mexico, the Spaniards began to import paper from Europe in large quantities. This had an effect on amate papermaking; fewer villages produced this paper since they could not sell it. However, amate papermaking did not die out completely. San Pablito continued to produce amate paper and, with time, the demand for amate paper slowly increased. Around the 1950s there was a resurgence of amate paper production in San Pablito. More artisans throughout Mexico began to use amate paper in their crafts and, in addition, an international market began to buy the Otomi's bark paper in large quantities. Prior to the 1950s it had been the curanderos (traditional healers) of the village who made amate paper. They produced elaborate cut-outs from the amate paper, depicting gods, goddesses, and crop fertility symbols representing both good and evil spirits. These figures were used as offerings to the gods and in ceremonial rituals. Curanderos still exist in San Pablito, but they do not have the same prestige as they once did. During one of my visits to San Pablito, I was permitted to observe a healing ceremony that one of the two remaining curanderos performed. The curandera (female healer) who performed the ceremony sat on an old chair facing us, with a sick child sitting next to her. After a few moments of silence she began chanting and cutting figures out of the amate paper. I noted that she used white amate paper for traditionally good spirits and dark amate for evil spirits. After she finished the cut-outs, she opened a bottle of refino, a locally-made grain alcohol, and poured four drops on the ground--north, south, east, and west--while chanting in Otomi. She laid the figures down on top of the alcohol, arranging them side by side. Pouring more alcohol on top of the figures and continuing her chants, she motioned with her arms. She then placed candles--eight white, representing good spirits, and eight blackened, representing evil--on opposite sides of the cut-outs, lit them, and moved her arms, drawing the smoke towards her. Next she took a live chicken, slit its throat, and smeared the blood on top of the figures. Placing the chicken on top of the offering, she wrapped it in the paper, blew out the candles, and tied it all in a neat bundle. She asked the child to come forward and, taking the wrapped chicken, began brushing it on top of the sick boy. She placed the chicken on the ground and had the boy jump over it several times. After many more chants she placed the chicken in a plastic bag, took the boy by the hand and walked with him for fifteen minutes towards the river. Upon arrival, she threw the chicken into the current, removing permanently the boy's illness with the swift river's flow. -------------------------------------------------------- Amate paper is made from the inner bark of wild fig and mulberry trees (Moraceae family). The bark can be obtained from a number of different species and each produces a different shade or tone, ranging from a rich deep brown to a light cream color. The word amate comes from the Nahuatl word amacuahuitl, meaning paper tree. In my research and readings of the various books and articles about papermaking in San Pablito I have come across many romantic and magical notions presented as fact, which I have neither witnessed nor been able to confirm with the papermakers there. Some claim that only women make amate paper and that men are not involved in the process. From my four years working with the papermakers (known as amateros) in San Pablito, I have observed the task shared by both sexes, although women make the paper more frequently than men. Another mistaken notion is that papermakers only make the paper when the moon is young and that they dance around the trees before they strip the bark. This may have been true when only the curanderos made the paper, but not now. The first step in making amate paper is to strip the bark from the trees. Because the number of papermakers has increased since the 1950s, few amate trees can now be found in San Pablito. This means the papermakers must pay jonoteros, men from the neighboring states of Hidalgo and Veracruz who supply them with raw materials. Not only do the papermakers have to pay someone to bring them the bark, but each time the jonoteros travel farther. This adds an additional cost to the manufacture of the paper. The jonoteros strip the bark from mature trees, those that have at least a 3" diameter around the branches. These may not have reached full growth, but the bark is suitable for making paper. Using a machete the jonotero slits the bark and then peels it away from the tree, leaving the smooth inner bark exposed. As harsh as the process may sound, it does not kill the tree. If the tree is left alone it will produce a new growth of bark, although it will be of lesser quality for papermaking. After purchasing the bark, the papermakers separate the inner bark and examine it for deformities and unusable sections. They then meticulously lay it in piles, separating the fiber by color and size. They bind the fiber with string and, unless they want to use it immediately, place it in the sun to dry and to keep it from rotting. They either store the dried fiber for later use or soak it overnight in a bath of tap water to soften, in preparation for cooking. The papermakers prepare a fire outside and place a large pot of water on it, then add both wood ash and lime to the water before it boils; this serves as the cooking agent which will break down the fibers. The proportions of fiber to wood ash and lime resemble 20% cooks used in Japanese-style papermaking: 200 grams of soda ash and 15 liters of water for every 1000 grams of dry fiber. The Otomis do not calculate on a weight scale, as we might, but use small handmade wooden boxes to measure the wood ash and lime. Next the papermakers place the fiber in the pot, bring it to a boil, and cook it for about four hours or until the fibers are smooth and separate easily. Only a skilled amatero knows how long this takes; it is not really quantifiable and takes much experience to determine when the fiber has been cooked long enough. Furthermore, the cooking time depends a great deal on the type and quality of the bark. Using wood ash lye, a good, gentle cooking agent, the Otomis cook the fiber longer than one would if using harsher chemicals. After they have cooked the bark sufficiently, they place it in another large pot and rinse it thoroughly. Next the amateros prepare the tablas, large wooden boards which they use as a surface for pounding out the paper. They need to wet the tablas daily with water so that the bark will not stick, and once a week they wash them with soapy water to remove any accumulated dirt. They mark the tablas with pencil to denote the sizes of paper to be made and, in order to get maximum use, use both sides of each board. When the amateros have finished preparation of the tablas, papermaking can begin. With their skilled hands, the papermakers carefully sprinkle water onto the board with such precision that they do not misdirect a drop. Water is scarce and not to be wasted. The papermakers lay the bark in strips onto the wooden tablas in a rectangular grid-like pattern. The thickness of the paper depends on how much fiber they place onto the tabla. Once they have laid out the fiber, the papermakers pat it down with their hands to make sure none of the fibers fly off the tablas during beating. They then pound with a hand-crafted stone tool made of basalt, which they call amahuitequini (tequi means beater) in Otomi, and piedra in Spanish. It takes several weeks to make the stones, which are filed to shape with a tool similar to a large carpenter's file. The shape of the finished tool is usually oval or rectangular, with grooves moulded into the sides for the papermaker's hands. The stone has two sides: one is rough and used for the initial pounding, the other is smooth, for evening the sheet. They beat the fiber until it is well felted, which for a skilled amatero making a 16" x 24" sheet may take twenty minutes. The piedras make a distinctive sound when struck against the tablas. The constant noise is so much a part of village life that even small babies strapped to the backs of the papermakers, their mothers, sleep soundly through the loud pounding. After the fiber has been well macerated, the papermaker forms well-defined edges and then smooths over the sheet with the even side of the stone. The side of the paper that the papermaker works on (the side facing up) will actually be the back side of the paper. The part facing down is much smoother from its contact with the tabla. This illustrates why the tablas are of utmost importance. Those made out of poor quality wood will cause sticking, holes, and a rough finished piece of paper. The better and more affluent papermakers take pride in the fact that they have their tablas custom-made. When the papermakers have made sheets on both sides of the tabla, they lay it out in the sun to dry. They give careful attention to the drying process, to ensure that the sheets dry evenly and do not peel away from the table. They remove the sheets, once dry, and bring them back to the shaded workshop area of the home for final touches. The papermakers inspect each sheet for holes, tears, and areas of weakness and use small scraps of amate paper for patching. They use the raw root of a plant known as amatzauutli, a type of orchid, as a glue for curating. After patching, the papermaker burnishes each sheet on the front side, the tabla side, with a glass beer bottle. Most papermakers do not have access to markets to sell their paper outside the village. Many wait for the periodic tourists who come, at which time the papermakers send their children to the street to meet them. All, of course, sell exactly the same thing and so sales in this manner are difficult and infrequent. Others sell in neighboring Pahuatlan at the Sunday market, where sales may be better, but this is not a bustling tourist town either. Many take the four hour bus ride to Mexico City and sell in the streets. They find this competitive also, because of the commonness of the product and the limited market for paper. Apart from a few outside contacts and some clients in the United States and Europe, artisans in the town of Ameyaltepec, in the state of Guerrero are the largest buyers of the paper. Here, painters or tlacuilos paint quite beautiful and elaborate depictions of their village life on the amate paper. They sell their artwork throughout Mexico and it can be found in some museums in the United States; it has made this village famous. As might be expected, commercialization of amate paper has had severe repercussions on the surrounding and neighboring forests, as well as the social structure of San Pablito. Since the 1950s there has been a growing international demand for the paper. Responding to what appears to be a profitable market, many more families are involved in the papermaking process. Agricultural roles, once the center of village life, have been disrupted, confused, and often abandoned. Since paper is no longer solely associated with religious ceremonies or traditional healing, the village curanderos have been displaced and have lost their position in the community. Many villagers no longer seek out the curanderos when sick but go to the clinic in Pahuatlan instead. Increased demand for the paper and competition among the papermakers has led to a scarceness of usable amate trees. Jonoteros must each time go farther and farther for the bark. Efforts to simulate the rich variety of colors formerly extracted from local amate trees have led to the use of bleach and Rit-type dyes. The papermakers later discard these toxic materials onto the same soil used for farming. Despite disinterest among the jonoteros and papermakers in reforesting, several government agencies have successfully planted over 15,000 trees in the surrounding area. Replanting must be continuous or the amate papermaking industry will die out. In addition to interacting directly with the papermakers, I have been working with AMACUP (Mexican Association of Art and Popular Culture), an organization which assists small artisan groups and micro enterprises throughout the Republic of Mexico. Together we are attempting greater reforestation. We hope this, in combination with efforts to educate the papermakers of the need to regenerate the trees and the harmfulness of using bleach and other toxic chemicals in their paper, will allow for the survival of the craft. We must urgently pursue this further, to keep the Otomi papermakers from losing a tradition that has been passed on for millennia.

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