Hair Tie Item Number: 3486/23 a-b from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Wasa watana (hair tie). Unfinished hair tie (part a) and sample (part b). The hair tie is braided, not woven, but the intersecting bands are inserted into the main band in the same way as woven examples. After insertion, each half of the added band is braided away from the main band. The smaller fragment illustrates an asymmetric insertion of threads for a single band that branches off the main band.
Hair ties are worn by highland women of Peru and Bolivia as adornments but are also useful for keeping their long braids joined together on their back and out of their way while doing other tasks. In the Cusco area, they are called “wasa watana” (Quechua), which means a narrow woven band with other bands woven through it. The distinctive feature of woven wasa watana is the addition of intersecting warp bands near both ends, which are also woven. The intersecting bands produce tassel-like endings with fringes. The most common design woven into the narrow bands is nested diamonds; other patterns based on triangles or zigzags are also used. The main band bridges woman’s hair braids and sections of it are included in the braids, with the tassels extending from the ends of their braids. Types vary in Peru and Bolivia and several different techniques (weaving, braiding, wrapping, felting, embroidery) are used to make them.
Bought in Chinchero in 1984 from the maker, who wore similar hair ties herself. She sold the donor the sample tie in order to better understand the technique used.