Matri­archy? »Tribe of Ama­zons«? That is what explor­ers and other out­siders roman­ti­cal­ly named the Zapotecs of the Isth­mus of Tehuan­te­pec in south­ern Oaxaca, Mexico. The Isth­mus is a place where women run the econ­o­my, where cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty is of utmost impor­tance, where »fat is beau­ti­ful« and where female ances­tors dis­played inge­nu­ity and spunk in times of war and polit­i­cal resis­tance. A SKIRT FULL OF BUTTER-FLIES is a love poem to the Isth­mus women.