OCOTLÁN DE MORELOS – “Look up to the El Peral mountains. That is where we do our ritual ceremony to call for rain,” says Josefina Santiago, 43, a Zapotec Indigenous leader. “We bury chocolate, flowers and a maize beverage called tejate to ask for gentle rainfall. We call ourselves water sowers: [we are] reclaiming our […]
Mongabay seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics,and finance on conservation and development.
‘Naná’ Gracia searching for medicinal herbs growing wild, such as horsetail and Virginia pepperweed beside the community’s spring. Photo: Mongabay/Monica Pelliccia
Avocado farms–mostly supplying the U.S. market–dominate water resources in the Mexican town of Angahuan, forcing Indigenous P’urhépecha healers to buy clean water to keep their medicinal plants alive.
ANGAHUAN, Mexico “Cuchita is the fourth-generation herb collector of our family,” says Juana Bravo, 45, pointing to a photo of her niece. “Look here: she was picking medicinal plants in the mountains when she was only one and a half years old.” Maria de Jesus, called Cuchita, now 9, still shares that same passion […]