Native colored cotton rescue in Oaxaca

A collage of four images: a woman holding raw cotton, rows of naturally dyed yarn, a cotton field under a blue sky, and three small samples of spun yarn on woven straw.

By Margaret MacSems 

Photos by :Margaret MacSems

Lea la versión en español

 The original peoples of Mexico have a long history of spinning and weaving wild and native cotton, using a drop spindle and a back strap loom. However, today only a handful of people in a few communities still produce cotton thread. The art of hand spinning cotton is most prevalent in communities where wild and or native cotton grows, a native language is spoken, other cultural traditions are alive and traditional dress is common. Strong cultural identity coupled with economic need seem to be the most constant factors in the conservation of traditional textile arts in Oaxaca. Additionally, access to the raw cotton is crucial to the continuance of hand spinning. 

A woman sits on a woven mat in sunlight, holding a bowl filled with brown yarn and spindles. She wears a turquoise long-sleeve shirt and striped skirt, and smiles at the camera. A bowl of raw cotton is beside her.
Aida Maruci, master spinner and cultural conservationist in SJC

Native colored cottons in Oaxaca are varieties of the species Gossypium hirsutum. The white variety of G. hirsutum is the cotton used in 95% of global production and the site of origin of G. hirsutum is Mexico. Wild cotton has been growing here for millions of years and the cultivation of native varieties has been practiced continually for at least 5,000 years. The Oaxaca coast is one of 11 sites of origin of G hirsutum within Mexico and home to at least five colors of cotton.

Pink and purple wildflowers bloom among green foliage, with a blurred background of trees and sky, creating a natural, serene outdoor scene.
Cotton flowers open three months after the seed is planted
Three people stand in a garden under a netted canopy, surrounded by small plants and monitoring equipment. The ground is bare and dry, and there are trees and nets in the background.
Native cotton intercropped with native corn – GMO free plants

  In 2011, when the native, colored cotton rescue project began, the prospect of the extinction of the local, cultivated cotton was palpable. At the bequest of textile artisans in San Juan Colorado, where in 2009 we had established an agroecological farmer field school, the farmers began to plant brown cotton in their milpas (polyculture farm plots with corn as the mainstay), which is a traditional way pf producing cotton in the region.

Six people, including a young boy, stand together in a green, leafy field. Most are wearing hats, and some hold notebooks. Trees and more plants are visible in the background.
Participatory verification team certifying ecological practices on Don Fortino’s farm plot
A rural field with rows of green crops and some dry, brown plants, surrounded by hills and trees under a blue sky with scattered white clouds.

In order to increase the demand for the cotton, and thus the production of brown cotton seeds, we established Katyi Ya’a, an artisan collective which is dedicated 100% to hand spinning and hand weaving native, colored cotton, by traditional means. Soon after that, the farmers began selling brown and white cotton to Khadi Oaxaca, a large group of artisans in the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca. Year by year, the cotton demand increased and the production volume along with it.

Now, the Ñu’u Ndito farmer collective on the coast of Oaxaca grows native, colored cotton in their milpas using certified, agroecological practices, thus conserving the seed and increasing the availability of cotton for hand spinning. Increased availability of colored cotton is evidenced by the large annual volume of colored cotton provided to Khadi Oaxaca and by the recent, increased use of it in the textiles from San Juan Colorado.

Close-up of cotton plants growing in a field, with fluffy white cotton bolls and green leaves visible under sunlight. Some bolls appear to be ripening or have already split open.
Brown and white cotton plants with bolls
A group of people, men and women, stand outside a building surrounded by trees, some holding papers and bags, posing together for a photo on a grassy area.
The Ñu’u Ndito farmers collective at the annual meeting.

Amidst our joy for having achieved our primary goal, we came into the knowledge that the local cotton seeds might be contaminated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs); something that had not even remotely occurred to us since the Mixtec de la costa de Oaxaca is some 1,500 miles from the industrial cotton producing region in the north of Mexico.

After all of the  Ñu’u Ndito farmers’ seeds were tested and some results were positive, we had to make a choice: continue planting our seeds as if nothing had changed since the cultivation of cotton began some 4,000 years ago, (yet knowing that we would likely be concentrating the presence of GMOs in the cotton as time went on), or engage in a deliberate, expensive and complicated effort to reduce the level of transgene contamination in seed pool and the environment.

The resulting native, colored cotton seed purification program is a work in progress. Ñu’u Ndito collaborates with the Centro de Aprendizaje Rural en Tecnologia Apropriada (CATA) which is an extension of Chapingo University, and with the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). The program started with the farmers taking seed samples, which were sent to UNAM for testing. The seeds were planted in the greenhouse at UNAM and then their leaves were tested. Negative plants were identified and sent back to Oaxaca to be grown-out in a specially constructed greenhouse at CATA.

The greenhouse protects the negative-tested plants from possible re-contamination by local pollinators, who might carry pollen from contaminated wild plants or cotton cultivated by farmers who do not participate with Ñu’u Ndito. Inside, the greenhouse is divided into sections in order to separate and conserve the four distinct color varieties. In this way we have produced thousands of GMO-free seeds, which are returned to the farmers, who plant them in their fields, thus reducing the incidence of GMOs in the environment. The work is important not only for native colored cotton seed conservation, but also for the protection of local wild cotton populations and is especially beneficial to pollinator and other insects’ health.

Part of the ongoing work is the development of financial resources to support the clean-seed program and the farmer organization, with a goal of self-sufficiency within five to seven years.


You can support the Ñu’u Ndito cooperative and the clean-seed program via
Gofundme: English/USD: https://gofund.me/f390f0ea
Gofundme Español/pesos: https://gofund.me/3ac0ef27 
And a tax deductible donation (USA and UK) can be made through
GlobalGiving: Native Colored Cotton Conservation in Oaxaca, http://goto.gg/74001

Four tufts of wool in different natural colors—brown, cream, white, and tan—are arranged in a square on a woven straw surface.
Four colors of native cotton fiber
Four small clusters of textured, bumpy fiber in brown, gray, green, and tan rest on a woven, light-colored surface with a zigzag pattern.
Four colors of native cotton seeds
Stacked folded towels in shades of brown, tan, and beige, arranged in horizontal layers from light to dark, showing their textured fabric.
Five colors of woven native colored cotton

A woman with curly brown hair tied back, wearing a short-sleeved blue top, sits by a window and smiles warmly. Sunlight illuminates her face and a green plant is visible outside the window.

Margaret Mac Sems, originally from the West Coast of the United States, has found her niche at the intersection of small-scale farming and hand-crafted textiles. After doing field work for her master’s degree in International Agricultural Development in Oaxaca in 2006, she moved there in 2008 to work with indigenous farmers on the coast of Oaxaca on milpa soil conservation. In 2011 the work grew to include the production of native, colored cottons and co-founding Katyi Ya’a, an indigenous textile collective in San Juan Colorado, which spins and weaves this cotton.

From 2017-2024 she was instrumental the development of the Khadi Oaxaca textile collective in the Sierra Sur de Miahuatlan. She is also co-founder of the native cotton collective Ñu’u Ndito and is currently guiding the development of their producer’s cooperative, co-managing their GMO-free native cotton project and advising on the program for the advancement of regenerative agriculture in the region.

Margaret lives, dyes and gardens in San Sebastian Rio Hondo, Sierra Sur, Oaxaca.



– SPANISH VERSION-

Rescate del algodón nativo de color en Oaxaca

Por Margaret MacSems 

Fotos por: Margaret MacSems 

A woman sits on a woven mat in sunlight, holding a bowl filled with brown yarn and spindles. She wears a turquoise long-sleeve shirt and striped skirt, and smiles at the camera. A bowl of raw cotton is beside her.

Aida Maruci, maestra hilandera y conservacionista cultural en SJC

Los pueblos originarios de México tienen una larga historia de hilado y tejido de algodón silvestre y nativo utilizando el huso de mano (malacate) y el telar de cintura. Sin embargo, hoy en día solo un pequeño número de personas en unas cuantas comunidades siguen produciendo hilo de algodón. El arte de hilar algodón a mano es más frecuente en comunidades donde crece algodón silvestre y/o nativo, donde se habla una lengua indígena y donde se mantienen vivas otras tradiciones culturales, así como el uso de la vestimenta tradicional. Una fuerte identidad cultural, junto con la necesidad económica, parecen ser los factores más constantes en la conservación de las artes textiles tradicionales en Oaxaca. Además, el acceso al algodón silvestre es fundamental para la continuidad del hilado a mano.

Los algodones nativos de color de Oaxaca son variedades de la especie *Gossypium hirsutum*. La variedad blanca de *G. hirsutum* es el algodón utilizado en el 95% de la producción mundial, y México es el centro de origen de esta especie. El algodón silvestre ha crecido aquí durante millones de años y el cultivo de variedades nativas se ha practicado de manera continua durante al menos 5,000 años. La costa de Oaxaca es uno de los 11 centros de origen de *G. hirsutum* dentro de México y alberga al menos cinco colores distintos de algodón.

Pink and purple wildflowers bloom among green foliage, with a blurred background of trees and sky, creating a natural, serene outdoor scene.
Las flores del algodón se abren tres meses después de plantar la semilla.
Three people stand in a garden under a netted canopy, surrounded by small plants and monitoring equipment. The ground is bare and dry, and there are trees and nets in the background.
Algodón nativo intercalado con maíz nativo – Plantas libres de OMG

En 2011, cuando se comenzó el proyecto de rescate del algodón nativo de color, la posibilidad de que el algodón cultivado localmente desapareciera era palpable. A petición de artesanas textiles de San Juan Colorado, donde en 2009 habíamos establecido una escuela de campo agroecológica para agricultores, los productores comenzaron a sembrar algodón café en sus milpas (parcelas agrícolas de policultivo, cuyo cultivo principal es el maíz), una forma tradicional de producir algodón en la región.

Six people, including a young boy, stand together in a green, leafy field. Most are wearing hats, and some hold notebooks. Trees and more plants are visible in the background.

Equipo de verificación participativa certifica prácticas ecológicas en finca de Don Fortino
A rural field with rows of green crops and some dry, brown plants, surrounded by hills and trees under a blue sky with scattered white clouds.

Con el fin de incrementar la demanda de algodón y al mismo tiempo la producción de semilla de algodón café, establecimos Katyi Ya’a, un colectivo artesanal dedicado 100% al hilado y tejido manual de algodón nativo de color mediante técnicas tradicionales. Poco después, los agricultores comenzaron a vender algodón café y blanco a Khadi Oaxaca, un amplio grupo de artesanas y artesanos de la Sierra Sur de Oaxaca. Año tras año, la demanda de algodón aumentó, al igual que el volumen de producción.

Actualmente, el colectivo de agricultores Ñu’u Ndito, en la costa de Oaxaca, cultiva algodón nativo de color en sus milpas utilizando prácticas agroecológicas certificadas, conservando así la semilla y aumentando la disponibilidad de algodón para el hilado manual. Esta mayor disponibilidad se refleja tanto en el gran volumen anual de algodón de color suministrado a Khadi Oaxaca, como en el uso cada vez más frecuente de este material en los textiles producidos en San Juan Colorado.

Close-up of cotton plants growing in a field, with fluffy white cotton bolls and green leaves visible under sunlight. Some bolls appear to be ripening or have already split open.
Plantas de algodón marrón y blanco
A group of people, men and women, stand outside a building surrounded by trees, some holding papers and bags, posing together for a photo on a grassy area.
El colectivo de agricultores Ñu’u Ndito en la reunión anual.

Mientras celebrábamos haber alcanzado nuestro objetivo principal, descubrimos que las semillas locales de algodón podrían estar contaminadas con organismos genéticamente modificados (OMG), algo que jamás habíamos imaginado, dado que la Mixteca en la costa de Oaxaca se encuentra a unos 2,400 kilómetros de la región industrial algodonera del norte de México.

Después de analizar las semillas de todos los agricultores de Ñu’u Ndito y obtener algunos resultados positivos, tuvimos que tomar una decisión: continuar sembrando nuestras semillas como si nada hubiera cambiado desde que comenzó el cultivo del algodón hace aproximadamente 4,000 años (aunque sabiendo que probablemente estaríamos concentrando la presencia de OGM con el paso del tiempo), o emprender un esfuerzo deliberado, costoso y complejo para reducir el nivel de contaminación transgénica en el banco de semillas y en el entorno.

El programa de purificación de semillas de algodón nativo de color que surgió de esta decisión sigue en desarrollo. Ñu’u Ndito colabora con el Centro de Aprendizaje Rural en Tecnología Apropiada (CATA), una extensión de la Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo, y con la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). El programa comenzó con la toma de muestras de semillas por parte de los agricultores, las cuales fueron enviadas a la UNAM para su análisis. Las semillas se sembraron en los invernaderos de la UNAM y posteriormente se analizaron sus hojas. Las plantas que resultaron negativas a OMG fueron identificadas y enviadas de regreso a Oaxaca para completar su desarrollo en un invernadero especialmente construido en CATA.

El invernadero protege a las plantas libres de OMG contra una posible recontaminación por parte de polinizadores locales, que podrían transportar polen de plantas silvestres contaminadas o de algodones cultivados por agricultores que no participan en Ñu’u Ndito. En su interior, el invernadero está dividido en secciones para separar y conservar las cuatro variedades de color distintas. De esta manera hemos producido miles de semillas libres de OMG, que posteriormente se devuelven a los agricultores para que las siembren en sus parcelas, reduciendo así la presencia de transgenes en el medio ambiente.

Este trabajo es importante no solo para la conservación de las semillas de algodón nativo de color, sino también para la protección de las poblaciones locales de algodón silvestre, y resulta especialmente beneficioso para la salud de los polinizadores y de otros insectos.

Parte del trabajo en curso consiste en desarrollar recursos financieros que permitan sostener el programa de semillas limpias y la organización de productores, con el objetivo de alcanzar la autosuficiencia en un plazo de cinco a siete años.

Se puede apoyar a la cooperativa Ñu’u Ndito y al programa de semillas limpias a través de:

**GoFundMe (inglés/USD): https://gofund.me/f390f0ea](https://gofund.me/f390f0ea

**GoFundMe (español/pesos): https://gofund.me/3ac0ef27](https://gofund.me/3ac0ef27

También se pueden realizar donaciones deducibles de impuestos (EE. UU. y Reino Unido) mediante GlobalGiving:

**Conservación del Algodón Nativo de Color en Oaxaca: http://goto.gg/74001](http://goto.gg/74001

Four tufts of wool in different natural colors—brown, cream, white, and tan—are arranged in a square on a woven straw surface.

Cuatro colores de fibra de algodón nativo.
Four small clusters of textured, bumpy fiber in brown, gray, green, and tan rest on a woven, light-colored surface with a zigzag pattern.

Cuatro colores de semillas de algodón nativo.
Stacked folded towels in shades of brown, tan, and beige, arranged in horizontal layers from light to dark, showing their textured fabric.

Cinco colores diferentes de algodón nativo

A woman with curly brown hair tied back, wearing a short-sleeved blue top, sits by a window and smiles warmly. Sunlight illuminates her face and a green plant is visible outside the window.

Margaret Mac Sems, originaria de la costa oeste de Estados Unidos, ha encontrado su vocación en la intersección entre la agricultura de pequeña escala y los textiles artesanales. Tras realizar trabajo de campo para su maestría en Desarrollo Agrícola Internacional en Oaxaca en 2006, se trasladó allí en 2008 para trabajar con agricultores indígenas de la costa oaxaqueña en la conservación de suelos de milpa.

En 2011, su trabajo se amplió para incluir la producción de algodones nativos de color y la cofundación de Katyi Ya’a, un colectivo textil indígena en San Juan Colorado dedicado al hilado y tejido de este algodón.

Entre 2017 y 2024 desempeñó un papel fundamental en el desarrollo del colectivo textil Khadi Oaxaca en la Sierra Sur de Miahuatlán. También es cofundadora del colectivo de algodón nativo Ñu’u Ndito y actualmente impulsa el desarrollo de su cooperativa de productores, codirige el proyecto de algodón nativo libre de OGM y asesora el programa para el avance de la agricultura regenerativa en la región.

Margaret vive, tiñe y cultiva jardines en San Sebastián Río Hondo, Sierra Sur, Oaxaca.

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