They just don't make them like they used to...

Yesterday we went to a nearby indigenous village called Amatlán, where we met with the partner of one of the staff people. Our speaker (who doesn't want his name shared) was a Nautl man whose family has lived on the same land for a thousand years (give or take a few). Their land is communal, which means that each one of the 226ish families has between 3 and 4 hectares (1 hectare = 2.5 acres). If a family goes without using their land for about 5 years, the land council (of which Nacho is a member) decides that they don't really need it, and they will give it to another family that needs it more.

He talked to us about Nautl culture, history, and present-day struggles. Our speaker went to college, so he understands how the Mexican government and the tax systems work, but he said that most indigenous people don't understand their rights in the Mexican constitution. This is how the government is able to take advantage of their people. The government has been trying to build a highway that connects both oceans, and the proposed route would run through the land of Amatlán. The government offered to pay 4 pesos per hectare (about US $0.25) - this would make an hectare of their land "worth" less than what they pay for a bottle of Coke! This community is only able to keep the government away because they had the title to their land from when they bought it back from Cortés in 1530-something.

At the house where we had the talk, Lisanne showed us the kitchen, which had a microwave right next to an indigenous tool that was over 900 years old and still used every day. It is made from volcanic rock and her mother-in-law still uses it to roll out dough for tortillas and such. She said that her mother-in-law was looking for a new one, and she was testing them in the store by scratching them, but they all flaked off because they were made from concrete and just stained to look like rock. She sighed and said something like, "They just don't make them like they used to..." I can't even imagine using something everyday that is 900 years old, but their sense of a "long time" is so different from ours. They have been living on the same land for over 1000 years! We ate lunch at Lisanne's sister-in-law's house, and they fed us delicious sopes made from corn that had been grown on their land with the same seeds that their family has used for a 1000 years.... Oh, and this is the view from their backyard:

View of "La Ventana"

After lunch we went on a short hike to a sacred Nautl site, where we performed a short Nautl ceremony. It was so interesting, and our surroundings were so beautiful. And our speaker said that they was so open to other religions that the Dalai Lama had even visited the same place. When our speaker spoke about religion, my favorite quote was something like, "I am catholic because I was told to be, not because I was asked." At the same time, it amazes me the their people can accept Catholicism after everything that the Catholic church has done to them...

written by

Kimberly on February 23, 2009 from Amatlan, Mexico

from the travel blog: Cuernavaca, Mexico

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