• The Legacy of the Ajq’ij: Bridging Our Past and Present

    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…

  • Caminando hacia el monte

    “They say there are mushrooms in the hills…”

    “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…

  • Mining without consent

    Mining Without Consent: A Documentary from Oaxaca, Mexico

    Mining represents a serious threat to indigenous communities in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. In the Central Valleys, 12 communities have organized to confront this problem and to defend their territories and dignity. However, despite presenting evidence, testimonies, and records, and in violation of the communities’ right to self-determination, the federal government, through the Mexican Ministry…

  • Maria Luna midwife. Photo: Juan Carlos Guzmán Luna

    Learning to Feel Babies Inside Us: Wisdom from Majosik, Chiapas

    FROM THE EDITORS: This beautiful 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…

  • EfrenDelRosal, Wikimedia

    Indigenous Midwives and Healers Denounce Appropriation of Traditional Medicine via Mexico’s Health Law Reform

    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,…

  • Study Visibilizes Indigenous Languages in Los Angeles

    In the United States, those who emigrate from the south of the border are all labeled as Latinos, coming from a “Latin” culture for speaking the Spanish colonial language. But in Abya Yala, our origin is richly diverse, particularly when it comes to language. Thus, Indigenous Communities in Leadership (CIELO) has achieved a crucial step…

  • Oglala Sioux Tribe. Picture: Anna Halverson

    The Right to Voluntary Self-Isolation

    Voluntary self-isolation has been practiced for millennia by uncontacted peoples, so as not to be victims of the devastating consequences of Western ​​civilization and progress. Several intergovernmental organizations have recognized this legal right and survival strategy of peoples to protect their land and territory, as a way of protecting themselves against genocide, colonization, and the…

  • Irma Pineda: To Reconcile with Mother Earth, We Must Reconcile with Ourselves

    We spoke with Irma Pineda Santiago, a Zapotec from Juchitán, Mexico, who speaks Diidxazá and is the Latin American representative for the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She talks about the effects of the pandemic on Indigenous populations, the recovery of ancestral knowledge—and its practice, in the midst of the pandemic—and the resilience of…