Culture and economy for survival: processes and stories from nahua ethnoterritory in Tehuipango, Zongolica sierra, Veracruz

Abstract

The paper focus on territory and etnoterritory of sierra de Zongolica in Mexico where the nahuas from municipality of Tehuipango –at the “cold zone” of the sierra– have begun to link their experience on international migration to new experiences that cause social and cultural changes. For the moment, reflection on the changes caused by leaving for the big cities of central Mexico and the north is not a priority issue in nahua communities in the area, given the historic necessity to meet basic needs. The marginality has by generations obligated peasants from Tehuipango to leave temporally their villages even for finding suitable soils to sow corn for feeding their families.

Nowadays etnoterritory of Tehuipango and others neighboring municipalities have several fundamentals that were originated in different cultures. This article provides a contextual overview enabling one to deal with various stories of regional and local culture,
from traditional agriculture and cosmology to the present day economic facts, as well as a des-cription of the context and perspectives on the basis of its inhabitants’ foreign work experience.