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| Profile
of the Indigenous People of Mexico
Chapter 7B - The Huasteca- Part 1 |
by Prof. German Estrada
December 22, 2002. |
The Huasteca
Summary 1.
The Huasteca region is a region in the northern reaches of the Gulf of Mexico
where the Sierra Madre mountain range meets the coastal plain of the Gulf. This
is considered a rich agricultural region with an abundance of water from the riverine
system flowing to the Gulf. There are also petroleum reserves in the "Canal
Delta of Chicontepec" that have not been exploited. Although rich agriculturally,
it is also a region of frequent natural disasters-freezing rains, hail, cyclones,
floods, and unpredictable storms. 2. The
region has a high concentration of indigenous people of the Teenek (Huasteco),
Nahua, Pame, Otami, and Tepehuan ethnicities/language families (40.8% of the total
population of the zone). The Teenek are a prehistoric group that developed a sophisticated
civilization in the pre-colonial times, influencing the art and technology of
the Aztec kings, before its decline. There are cultural similarities between the
three ethnicities, but they maintain distinct languages and settle in separate
communities or village areas. The indigenous populations are much poorer than
those surrounding them. Land reform was carried out in the 1980s in this zone,
with the result than many indigenous farmers have only recently become landowners
after generations of working on landed estates, and farmer organizations have
only recently changed from advocates of land reform to productive organizations
seeking economic improvements. 3. The main findings
of the study are: lack of recognition of government authorities of the region's
cultural differences lack of coverage of infrastructure and services with health
and literacy problems strong persistence of traditional forms of governance even
in some of the areas of private land holdings which were areas of land redistribution
high productivity in some areas but high climate risk and market control by intermediaries
strong role of women in production and community organization although no roles
in the formal political system a history of dispersed political organization,
with uncoordinated action and little ability until now to create regional organizations
that serve the needs of development and economic improvement disconnect of government
programs that dissolve social capital rather than helping to strengthen it. 4.
History. The Huasteca has had a peculiar history for the presence of a large number
of leaders and opportunists in the region during and after the Mexican revolution,
many of whom established ranches and farms during this period with very extensive
livestock holdings. Because of their political influence in national politics,
these ranches were not touched during any of the land reform movements. 5.
For this study, the Huasteca has been defined as 55 municipalities in San Luis
Potosi, Veracruz and Hidalgo, without including Puebla, Tamaulipas or Querétaro.
There are many different classifications in use for the Huasteca, ranging in coverage
from 39 (SEDESOL figures) to 76 (COPLAMAR) to 83 (CONAPO). Of the 55, 28 are in
Veracruz, 19 en San Luis Potosi, and 8 in Hidalgo. Within the 55 included in the
study, the indigenous population of the Huasteca region is 1,575,078, of which
76% are Nahuatl and 21.24% are Teenek, with other language speakers each making
up less than 1% each. Table 1. Regionalization
in the Huasteca and No. of Indigenous Municipalities
Hidalgo State COPLAMAR | SAHOP | BASSOLS | SAHR | CONAPO | SEDESOL | SAGAR | THIS
STUDY | 15 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
San
Luis Potosi State Veracruz
State Total
indigenous Huasteca 6.
There are five sub-regions, which define the range of economic activities and
opportunities: high sierra, middle sierra, low sierra and valley lands, and the
coastal plains. Table 2: Ecological Regions
and Altitude (in meters) Veracruz State Highland | Transition
Zone | Medium
Sierra | High
lowland | Lowland | 1500-
300 | 1100 - 2000 | 700
- 1500 | 100- 1000 | 100
- 700 |
San Luis
Potosi State S/C | S/C | 500
- 1800 | 200 - 500 | 20
- 200 |
Hidalgo State S/C | S/C | 900
- 1700 | 300 - 900 | 140
- 300 |
Sources: Mexican Government
Institutions (Sedesol, Co-Plamar, Conapo, Sahop, Bassols, Sahr) *
The HUASTECA REGION of Mexico is located in the States of Puebla, Veracrúz,
Hidalgo, Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosí. Their origin is Maya-Quiche. Next
week: 2nd part of this Chapter 7B on the HUASTECA Indigenous People
gestrada@pvnet.com.mx
Prof. Germán Estrada is the
author of the best selling book, "México
Mágico: Everything You Wanted To Know About... But Nobody Told
You..." available in Puerto Vallarta at The Net House, Mail Boxes, Etc.,
Books, Books as well as directly from the author by internet. Archives
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