TEPEHUA INDIANS IN MEXICO

THERE ARE ABOUT 10,000 PEOPLE IN CENTRAL MEXICO. THEY HAVE THREE DIALECTS. EACH YEAR AT THE END OF THE CARNIVAL CELEBRATION, ONE WEEK AFTER LENT STARTS, THEY RUN THROUGH FIRE AS A FORM OF CLEANSING. TODAY THEY USE GASOLINE FOR THE FIRE. LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE PRECOLUMBIAN TEPEHUA.THERE IS A THEORY THAT THEY HAD OCCUPIED THIS REGION FOR FOR A LONG TIME. THE OTAMI MOVED IN FROM THE SOUTH. SOME OF THESE SOME OF THESE LANDS WERE BROUGHT BY THE CHURCH. AFTER THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION IN 1926, LOTS WERE WERE REGISTERED TO THE INDIANS. IN THE 1930'S THERE WAS ARMED CONFLICT. MESTIZO RANCHERS AND ANGLOS TERRORIZED INDIANS AT THAT TIME.

THEIR RELIGION IS COMPLEX. THEY WORSHIP NATURE GODS, CEREMONIES THAT ADDRESS SOUL FORCES,MAKE PAPER FIGURES AND MUSICAL FLOWER RITUALS IN HOMES AND AT SHRINES. THEIR DEITY IS THE SUN. WHEN HE SETS AT NIGHT HE LEAVES THE STARS TO GUARD THE WORLD. THE MOON IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVIL. THE SHAMANS ARE THE MAIN RELIGIOUS PRACTITIONERS IN CHARGE OF RITUALS.

SHAMANS HAVE SUFFERED IN LIFE AND HAVE RECEIVED VISIONS DIRECTING THEM TO A CURING PROFESSION. THEY ACQUIRE POTTERY FIGURINES TO KEEP ON THEIR ALTARS. THEY HAVE CEREMONIES THAT HAVE THE OPENS AS THE SHAMAN CUT PAPER FIGURINES. REPRESENTING THE SPIRITS OF VARIOUS BEINGS. A SACRED TIME OPENS AS THE ACTUAL SUPERHUMAN INVISIBLE BEINGS ARRIVE TO ATTEMPT THE RITUAL. AS DAWN ARRIVES THEY LEAVE.

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