Articles - AWASQA

- Cinthya Toledo
May 9, 2025
Ca dxiibi [Fear]

When I was seven years old, an aunt came by my house to tell us about a murder that had taken place in the community. It happened during a rodeo, a community event where men ride large bulls and compete against each other. This activity takes place during the town’s patron saint festivities. In short,…

- Awasqa Editors
April 16, 2020
Solutions for Internet Access in Isolated Regions

Native communities have depended on their economic capacity to solve their communication services. Historically, there is a global attention deficit in this regard, for example, according to World Bank data, indigenous peoples “have less than half the access to cellular telephony than non-indigenous peoples,” and “between four and six times less internet access than non-indigenous…
March 22, 2020
Decolonizing Health II: Community Efforts in Abya Yala

Slowly we perceive―like the rising of the river when it comes down from the mountain―that the rain at the top of the summit hasn’t ceded, and that we must prepare for the sudden flow. After the initial storm, like the soft roots that creep between the stones until they are broken, ideas, actions, and the…
March 9, 2020
VIII Continental Congress of Indigenous Women of the Americas

More than 250 women representatives of indigenous organizations from across the Americas met in Mexico City to discuss the current political and social situation of the Americas that affects indigenous women, children and youth. Within the framework of the fight against violence against women and feminicide, the participants met from February 26 to 29 to…
January 7, 2020
Mexico: “We Are Blacks from the Coast” Project

Mexico: During the colonial era, demographically, the majority population was the Indigenous People, the second-largest was of African origin, and the third was whites and mestizos of European descent. Mexico had two Black presidents: the Generals Vicente Guerrero and Juan Álvarez (called “El Pinto” because he suffered from vitiligo. Because of the white spots on…
November 27, 2019
Singing Hip Hop in Native Languages to Reclaim Identities

Musical expressions are liberating and help build resilience. Some musical expressions have managed to unleash social change and others, to shape identities and resistance, but above all music is contributing significantly to keeping Native languages and expressions alive. Indigenous languages are living, active languages that grow and are renewed, for example, when young people take…
November 26, 2019
Water, Mexico and Its Many Hidden Names

By Yásnaya Elena A. Gil,* presentation at the Mexican Congress on February 28, 2019, to mark the international year of indigenous languages. Nëwemp “the place of water”, mixe. Giajmïï “about water”, chinateco. Nangi ndá “the land in the middle of water”, mazateco. Kuríhi “inside water”, chichimeco. Nu koyo “humid town”, mixteco. It was the name…
November 22, 2019
Jumping the Mexico-USA Wall with Art, Light and Sound

By Awasqa. Mexican-Canadian electronic artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, with the Border Tuner Project, has managed to connect Chamizal Park in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and Bowie High School in El Paso, Texas beyond the wall that separates these two communities. This is a deep connection, of the soul of two cities through intangible but susceptible materials: Light,…
- Pável Uranga
October 19, 2019
K-luumil X’Ko’ olelo’ob: Land of Women

Interview with Alika Santiago Trejo, October 18, 2019 I think the important thing, how we look at each other now, is to understand that our collective of indigenous women is, in itself, a necessary political action, an organization born from us, with autonomy and independence of thought. What is the K-luumil X’Ko ’olelo’ob Collective? Our…