Sisal hancrafts

Sisal (Carludovica palmata) comes from a wild plant that grows in arid lands. In the United States it is known as “Jungle Drum.” Its long, lancelolate meaty leaves grow from the ground up. They are off blue or greyish white. They are all attached to the stem to which they stick until they are adult leaves and later separate. When they are adult leaves, they have two centimeter pointed thorns. They all end in a 5 centimeter needle-like point with a two centimeter width. Pita blooms once in its life. This results in many offshoots which start a new life cycle. Its name comes from the Latin “pitis-pitae” which means “thin rope or string”. It has other names: yellow agave, american agave. Agave comes from  the Greek which mean “wonder”, probably called so by the Spanish “conquistadores” who took it for Aloe.

Soft, flexible and strong fibers are used. Pita has many uses, among them to make hats, rope, handicrafts, and spirits. Those who work in Pita extraction are colled “ripiadores or sacapalmas.”

Process of extraction the sisal fiber

Ripiadores cut off the tip of the tree – a stem that grows from the center. Then they start cutting off each leaf. Once separated, the leaves are cooked with abundant water. They  are washed and then dried. Once dried these are hanged in groups of twelve to make one thick bunch.

Products

A straw hat, a Panama hat or “jipijapa” is a traditional winged hat made of interwoven palm leaves.

Despite its name, Panama hats are made in Ecuador, not in Panama. It got its name after thousands of them were imported from Ecuador to Panama for the workers at the canal construction in the late XIX century.

When the United States president, Theodore D. Roosevelt (1858-1919) came to Panama, he wore one, which increased its popularity. The pita hat is considered the prince of all straw hats.

A great variety of products are made from this natural fiber: plates covers, bread bskets, garbage bins and others.

In Camoapa, Nicaragua there are around 600 artisans who are organized in a national cooperative called “Manos Laboriosas” (“Industrious hands”). This cooperative in divided in four small municipal cooperatives: two rural ones, El Mombacho and Robal; and two urban: Palmata and El Sombrero.

See information about handcrafts made of Jicara