Linda Belote to speak on Ecuadorian women's folk art Nov. 18

Former Peace Corps Volunteer Linda Belote of Hancock is pictured here with Laura Quizhpe standing in La Mega Cooperativa Artesanal de los Saraguro's booth in Santa Fe, N.M., in July 2012. Belote will give a presentation on "La Mega Cooperativa Artesanal: How Ecuadorian Indian Women Found Economic Success through Hand-Woven Beadwork" on Monday, Nov. 18, at Michigan Tech. (Photos courtesy Linda Belote)

HOUGHTON -- Hosted by student organization Global City, local resident and former Peace Corps Volunteer (and former Michigan Tech Dean of Students) Linda Belote will present "La Mega Cooperativa Artesanal: How Ecuadorian Indian Women Found Economic Success through Hand-Woven Beadwork" from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.on Monday, Nov. 18, in Fisher 133 on the Michigan Tech campus.

Belote will tell the story of five indigenous women's organizations from highland Southern Ecuador who joined together in 2010 in order to bring their handwoven beadwork jewelry to an international market. Aided by Belote and other American friends, their communities' folk art and the story it tells has reached the US and beyond via the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Linda Belote, foreground, admires the display of beadwork made by Martha Lozano, the vendor pictured here on the plaza of downtown Saraguro, Ecuador, in August 2013.

Pizza and snacks will be provided, and the cooperative's beadwork will be available for purchase following the presentation. The public is welcome.

Global City is a student organization at Michigan Tech dedicated to providing a forum to address critical issues of human development such as economic development, resource distribution, and sustainability. Visit http://global.students.mtu.edu for more information.