Dagoberto Morales Duran (Medford) is a traditional P'urhépecha tule and wheat straw weaver and dry-stone wall builder from San Jeronimo Purenchecuaro, in central Michoacán, Mexico. He is descended from four generations of craftsmen and learned tule and straw weaving at age five. He also learned from his father to build dry stone walls.
Bio
Dagoberto Morales Duran is a traditional P'urhépecha tule and wheat straw weaver and dry-stone wall builder from San Jeronimo Purenchecuaro, Michoacan. He is descended from four generations of craftsmen and learned wheat straw weaving at age five.
Morales is well versed in a variety of cultural traditions from his indigenous Purépecha heritage. The Oregon Folklife Program documented his work in the 1990s. He took part as a master artist in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program from 1994-96 and a variety of public programs in Medford, Eugene, Salem, and Portland through 2003 to demonstrate his cultural traditions. Morales also taught his niece, Fabiola, to weave mats with tule and cattails as well as wheat straw. More recently, in 2018-19, Morales worked with Indian Education in Douglas County to teach tule mat weaving; the process was similar to what he practiced with wheat straw. Now, his son, Nicholas, has also learned the art of mat and fan weaving. Although Morales has not made many tule mats and straw figures since 2012, he did weave a straw piece with a heart in the center for a friend with a new home. The piece is known as a house blessing and he enjoys making them upon occasion. He donates his tule fans to local Native American pow wows for giveaways.
