Travel Writing & Photography

Princess by Proxy


By Sandra Richardson

I love multi-cultural living, but sometimes when I tell people I’m from NEW Mexico, they hear MEXICO and misunderstand, thinking I’m not from the USA, but living amidst native people from much further south. Misconceptions aside, there are strong connections between Taos and Mexico, going way back beyond the conquistadors (and Mexican annexation) to ancient tribal trade routes—hence the appearance of tropical parrot feathers and Pre-Columbian design elements in Native American ceremonial regalia.

More recently, Susanna Starr (shown at right in Oaxaca embroidered top with Cora Amalia Castilla Madrid, Presidenta Municipal de Orthón Blanco, Quintana Roo, México), a transplanted New Yorker with “pure Taos heart and soul,” created her own El Camino Real trade route with Mexican natives. Over 35 years ago, this nomadic hippie-chick met and adopted a village of Zapotec Indians. For three decades, she’s enjoyed presenting their stunning weavings and her own innovative cross-cultural designs to us Americanos at her fabulous gallery, Starr Interiors (named La Unica Cosa until last year) adjacent to the historic Taos Inn (Taos, New Mexico). She has successfully elevated village crafts to elegant interior décor.

Susanna’s love for Mexican native cultures—especially Zapotec and Mayan—extends to an involvement way beyond that of most people. In her words, “Weavings have been extremely important in my life. I love the texture, artful designs and colors, and the metaphor. We all are constantly weaving our own stories.” Her passion not only provides much of the employment in the Zapotec village, but she also injects capital into the Mayan economy through her creation of Rancho Encantado, an eco-resort on the shores of Bacalar’s Laguna of Seven Colors on the southeastern tip of the Yucatan. Just enough jungle has been cleared to construct unobtrusive, thatched-roof palapas (huts), hiding happily amidst bougainvillea blossoms. Susanna is passionate about preserving the planet and its peoples.

Recently, I stayed with Susanna at the Rancho, which she designed to be an oasis of tranquility in a speeded up world of relentless distractions, offering relaxation and renewal—one place on the planet where I can loll in a hammock without feeling guilty! As Susanna says, “Once you get into a hammock, you simply don’t ever want to be without one.”

She drew on her long-term relationship with the natives to allow me and 20 other writers a very special entrée into Mayan culture. The smiles, gazes of loving respect, and big bear-hugs that engulfed diminutive Susanna everywhere we went clearly demonstrated she’s considered a Mayan-princess-by-proxy. Thanks to her connections, our group was invited to share indigenous culture in a meaningful way. Portals of ancient Mayan ruins and recently-thatched huts were thrown open to us, offering a hospitable peek into the world of the living Maya.

In Mayan villages, we feasted on Brazo de Reina (Queen’s Arm), a special ceremonial tamale-like dish of masa (corn meal), chaiya (spinach), and eggs, served with hand-twizzled hot chocolate. Maya matrons, with faces etched like weathered stone, made us welcome in their homes. In a charming village of a hundred families, called Viente de Noviembre, where they still speak Mayan and live in time-honored ways, we went clothes shopping for huipile, the Maya woman’s traditional dress. This simple, white cotton shift is embellished with intricate embroidery. Margarita invited us into her home to see how the garments are made. 

Susanna & Cora Amalia

First, the complex floral and animal designs are drawn free-hand onto the fabric, then laboriously embroidered using an old Singer trundle machine. Alternatively, some are done by hand in counted cross-stitch needlepoint. Margarita told us it takes her about 15 days to do the embroidery for one dress. Our guide, Joaquin, explained that she means working on it exclusively only about two to three hours per day. “She can’t work full time because she also has to do the hammocks and the babies and the laundry, and of course take care of the boys and the men!” He laughed; I sighed. “Women’s work is never done”—a multi-cultural tradition I’d be happy to see fade out of fashion! We wandered down the narrow dirt street past a cheerful turquoise wooden cottage to visit Victoria, who makes intricately-woven, colorful hammocks in her home. Cottage industries and eco-tourism are the way the Maya hope to preserve the past and prepare for a sustainable future.
If you don’t have time to go to the Yucatan right now, you can buy huipiles and hammocks and very affordable Arte de Oaxaca cotton clothing and shawls from Susanna’s other store, Import Outlet, farther north on Paseo del Pueblo, near Yucca Plaza.