Otavalo is a little town North of Quito, Ecuador, famous for its handicrafts market. While most Indian communities do not sell the textiles, basketry, leatherwork and so on that they make for their own use, the Otavaleņos have gained remarkable prosperity by making good use of their weaving skills and selling their goods to tourists. They now have shops all over the continent, and even in Europe. Howevever a visit to the villages around Otavalo reveals the dark side of this success story : the shop owners and market resellers in town make a profit by buying handicrafts at bargain prices to dirt-poor village producers who slave 12 to 14 hours a day in their workshops and are forbidden to sell their goods directly in the market plaza, where plots are rented to a few rich families. An unusual case of exploitation of Indians by Indians themselves.