"Traditionally we have defined the indigenous peoples for their shortcomings, for what they are not and for what they do not have. It's time to start defining them in the opposite direction, for what they are and what they have” said anthropologist Miguel Bartolomé.

In 2018 the INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History) published an extensive study of the cultures and regions of Mexico. I have this 740 page atlas available. It is in Spanish but students and researchers of Mexico will be able to read it.

ISBN 978-607-539-102-1
12.6 x 11 inches
740 pages
Hard cover
In Spanish
$195.00

The following was translated from Spanish using google and then edited by me for clarity.

# # #

The National Atlas of Ethnography, coordinated by Saúl Millán and edited by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) was produced within the framework of the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples. More than a hundred articles by 80 authors show the different cultures of the country. Anthropologist Aída Castilleja, INAH technical secretary, stressed that the publication of this volume is part of the celebration of the 20 years of the National Ethnography Project of the Indigenous Regions of Mexico.

ída Castilleja, INAH technical secretariat, indicated that the volume accounts for the diversity of indigenous peoples and the different ways of approaching them

Within the framework of the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples, the volume The Indigenous Cultures of Mexico, National Atlas of Ethnography, coordinated by Saúl Millán and edited by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). Over a hundred papers by 80 authors show, from different points of view, the different ethnographic communities of Mexico.

The presentation was made within the framework of the 1st Workshop on Cultural Heritage and Market. Reflections on Collective Rights and Intellectual Property, where the anthropologist Aída Castilleja, INAH technical secretary, stressed that the publication of this volume is part of the celebration of the 20 years of the National Ethnography Project of the Indigenous Regions of Mexico, which constituted collectively, "and it is an achievement that is due to the good seed that Gloria Artís sowed.

 
The technical secretary explained that the atlas effectively addresses the indigenous peoples of Mexico in different ways, but it is also a map in terms of a careful selection of topics that were written at different times by prominent specialists such as Guillermo Bonfil and Arturo Warman. .

 
"This selection shows that Saúl Millán and his team of collaborators wove a lot of fibers to be able to account for the diversity of the indigenous peoples, the different ways of approaching them and the variety of themes from which all these contributions were made. In total more than one hundred texts of more than 80 authors were presented, definitely an atlas in the broadest sense of the word ".

 
Teacher Gloria Artís is responsible for the creation of the National Ethnography Project of the Indigenous Regions of Mexico in the New Millennium within the National Coordination of Anthropology, 20 years ago. "We invited INAH researchers to carry out a collective project, and after a three-day deadline we drew some lines of work and saw the need to develop regional ethnographic atlases".

 
He added that it was started in May 1999 with 107 researchers distributed in 21 work teams deployed in a good part of the country. A training program for indigenous studies was opened with young people just graduated from anthropology schools. A permanent seminary was created that became a reference for those interested in ethnography in Mexico. The field of anthropological expertise was inaugurated and they have published multiple works including essays, monographs, bibliographies and the dissemination of this INAH collection.

 
When referring to the new atlas, Artís maintained that it is a structured work like the others: introduction, basic studies, thematic essays, boxes and boxes, a bibliography and images that include maps, photographs, drawings and vignettes with specificities that were absolutely necessary to achieve the objective of their authors, that is, to cover the entire country ".   

 
Twelve atlases of the 15 initially proposed have been published: Oaxaca, Puebla, Morelos, Mexico City, Huasteca and Semidesierto Queretano, Chiapas, Hidalgo, Northwest, Chihuahua, State of Mexico, Veracruz and more recently, the National Atlas.

 
"Today we celebrate the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples. With this work, INAH recognizes these peoples who constitute us as a nation, their intimate presence, their deep and transcendent cultural richness. A good gift for them and for all Mexicans. "

 
The coordinator of the volume, Saúl Millán, recalled a comment made some time ago by the anthropologist Miguel Bartolomé: Traditionally we have defined the indigenous peoples for their shortcomings, for what they are not and for what they do not have. It's time to start defining them in the opposite direction, for what they are and what they have.

 
"This work, like many others that have been generated within the Ethnography Project, is undoubtedly an extremely important step in that direction. The reader will be able to notice that all the aspects that the indigenous peoples consider significant, from how to build a house to how to ask for a bride, are contemplated in it. Something, without doubt, that can help solve our own problems and find better solutions for them. "

 
He stressed that the atlas is a collection of maps of diverse nature, which contains a recapitulation of different topics about the territory and the modifications that human activity has produced in it, but it is also something else, a mirror of the country.

 
Finally, María Elisa Velázquez, moderator of the table, indicated that with the presentation of the atlas the 1st Working Session on Cultural Heritage and Market concluded, in which interesting papers were presented, but there is still a need to debate and reflect more on the problems that live indigenous peoples.

 
The indigenous cultures of Mexico, National Atlas of Ethnography coordinated by Saúl Millán with the collaboration of Carlos Heiras, Alessandro Questa and Iván Pérez Téllez, contains 739 pages and is edited by INAH.

# # #