In the Mountains of Puebla

Yesterday I paid a visit to the National Museum of Anthropology, the greatest of Mexico City's many museums.

 A monumental statue of the rain god Tlaloc in front of the museum

A visit to this enormous museum is almost like a pilgrimage that I make on every trip to Mexico City.  On my last couple of visits I have been concentrating on the less visited upper floor with its ethnographic galleries dealing with the indigenous cultures of Mexico today.  Yesterday I went through a couple more galleries, beginning with the peoples of the "Sierra de Puebla".

The "Sierra de Puebla" is in the northern area of the state of Puebla, and is a part of the Sierra Madre mountain range.  It is located between the central highlands and the gulf coast.  This rugged region, covered in lush vegetation and long isolated from the rest of the country, is the rainiest part of Mexico.  The warm, humid air from the gulf drops its moisture as it rises over the mountains.

The "Sierra de Puebla" still has a sizeable indigenous population.  There are four main tribes that live in the region, the Nahua (who speak Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs), the Totonacs, the Otomi, and the Tepehuas.  The four groups sometimes get along with other, at other times have been in conflict with each other.

A reconstruction of a typical home in the mountains of Puebla

The interior consists of one room, dominated by the hearth of the cooking area, and an altar which reflects the mixture of Christian and pre-Hispanic beliefs.

Some homes have a separate "temezcal" or sweat lodge for the purification of the body.

One of the most colorful folkloric dances of Mexico, the Quetzal Dance, is from the "Sierra de Puebla".  The dance dates back hundreds of years before the conquest.  The headdresses worn by the dancers represent the colors of the quetzal bird whose plumage was prized by the Aztecs.

Another ceremony from the 'Sierra de Puebla" is that of the "voladores", the "flyers" who climb to the top of a high pole and gracefully circle down to earth as the ropes tied to them unfurl.

The "voladores" perform their ancient ritual regularly for tourists in front of the museum.

Examples of women's attire which is still worn for religious fiestas.  

On such occasions people from different tribes might gather together for the celebrations.

The clothing made by the women of the Sierra de Puebla often features beautiful embroidery work.

Fabrics are often woven on a "waist loom".

The warp is kept taut by the weight of the weaver's body.

The fabric shown on this "waist loom", plain white, but intricately woven,

is the kind of cotton cloth used after a woman has a baby.

The women of the Otomí tribe of the Sierra make large pieces of "amate" paper from the bark of the fig or mulberry trees.

The "amate" is decorated with images which go back to their pre-Hispanic religion, and are used in ceremonies.

In a future post I will take you to the next gallery which is devoted to the indigenous peoples of the state of Oaxaca.