Gretchen Kinglsey: The older people still know how to weave Bible bags, a bag big enough to hold a Bible, with a strap that would go around their necks. They would wear that whenever they would go to church, and their Bible was right there. Since they had very few possessions in their homes, they didn’t have bookshelves, or cabinets, or closets to put things in. If you walked into the home, the Bible bag was hanging on a nail somewhere close to the door. When they would leave the house, they would take it with them in the bag, protected from the dust and the dirt. So, the Bible bag is a very good way of protecting the Bible, their most important possession, and a way to transport it.
There was a special kind of Bible bag for praise dancers in the church. If God called you to be a dancer, you would carry your Bible in a white cloth bag on your back, like a mini-backpack with straps that would crisscross across the front of your chest, so you could dance freely.
Byrdalene Horst: Many women knew how to make the woven bags out of cactus fiber, the kind that has thorns. Each leaf has a thorn that goes one way and another thorn that goes the opposite way. It is extremely difficult to handle without getting pricked. Qom girls learn to harvest these leaves at a young age. When the long process of getting the pulp out is completed, they put the fiber in the ground to take on the color of the earth. And then, they start the incredible weaving of the fibers with two sticks in the ground. This is the process to make their Bible bags.
GK: They also use wool from their sheep.
BH: Yes, later they used wool.
GK: They would also use dyes from various plants and fruits, so there would be shades of brown and shades of yellow and subtle greens. When they used wool, it was the color of the sheep’s wool, but in recent years, they have begun to pull apart old, torn sweaters and use all kinds of bright colors.
