When he died, his house was abandoned, it fell apart little by little from the rain and the sun, the plants climbed through the windows and the earth with which it was built was reintegrated to its source. In the rural territories of Mexico, the act of building homes with earth is so ancestral that…
In the heart of the indigenous territories in Guatemala, the ancestral knowledge of Mayan healers resonates, as guardians of millenary wisdom and caretakers of the health and wellbeing of their communities. The Ajq’ijab’ (timekeepers) not only heal the body, but are care for the spirit and to help us keep our connection with Mother Earth…
The whistling of the wind envelops the hills and ravines. We feel wrapped and moved by the mystique of the lullabies that, in moments, explode into screams, until the calmness arrives again. This occurs again and again: they are the voices of our ancestors announcing their survival in the ancestral Tastil territory. In the province…
“They talked about God in the woods, the fog was heavy and strangely warm, I don’t believe in god, and yet I am amazed to the point of superstition at the sheer beauty of this world.”—Julio Delgado, personal communication, 2023 When the first thunder rumbles through the earth and echoes through the ravines, the ladies…
FROM THE EDITORS: This relevant article is part of the Tzam Trece Semillas Zapatistas project, a plural, multicultural space that proposes a dialogue (tzam means dialogue in Ayapaneco) between communities, ideas, projects, dreams of the original Mexican peoples. The project’s goal is to publish the work of 130 collaborators in thirteen months, from May 2021 to May…
SOURCE: Red Muqui. Translated by: Andrea Pisera The myths of “green,” “sustainable” and “climate smart” mining are gaining traction across the world. Companies are marketing these mines as “green,” and present them as the solution to the climate crisis in order to attract investors. They promote Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) criteria, and the…
FROM THE EDITORS: Last April, the House of Representatives approved reforms to Mexico’s Health Law to regulate traditional and complementary medicine. Several indigenous and civil society groups have rejected the reforms, calling the law unconstitutional for violating the right of indigenous people to free, prior, and informed consent. Traditional indigenous medicine and practices, including midwifery,…
FROM THE EDITORS: A large alliance representing 30 indigenous nationalities, inhabitants and protectors of 35 million hectares of the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon, published the “Bioregional Plan: Sacred Headwaters 2030” to present a strategic plan for the protection and conservation of forests led by indigenous peoples. The plan includes concrete transition actions towards indigenous self-determination…