A boy uses a forked stick to make the pattern “nawi awapa” which means “eye” in the Inca Quechua language.
The process of weaving “nawi awapa” holds special meaning to Inca people. The weaver’s hands reach inside to draw out the center threads which represent the place of generation or “eye”–the potato eye or the furrow where a seed is planted (described by Ed Franquemont when he gives Inca weaving workshops in the United States.)
Boys and girls learn “nawi awapa” which they can use on its own (a strap for a bag, for example) or the eye pattern can be woven to the edges of weavings. “Nawi awapa” does not appear flat like a “jakama.” It is tubular.
