Awayo is Ayamaran (the language of the Indigenous people of the Bolivian altiplano*)  it means "general purpose piece of cloth".  An awayo can be a shawl, a baby wrap, a baby carrier, a bag to name but a few of the uses.  More ornate and used exclusively for clothing is the  Aksu.  For men the traditional garment is the Poncho. The cloth is spun on a simple drop spindle and woven on a backstrap loom, a portable loom where the tension is generated by the weaver who attaches one end of the loom to a fixed point and the other around their back (using a strap) thus one leans back and the threads go tight enabling weaving to take place.