Sponsored by Instituto Nacional Indigenista A. DESCRIPTION OF
PROJECT High in the rugged Sierra Oriental Mountains between
Mexico City and Vera Cruz lies the small town of Cuetzalan, the
major centre for market activities and the source of health
services for the largest group of Nahuatl and Totonac speaking
peoples in Mexico. These people, descendants of the ancient
Aztecs, Huastecos, Mayas, Oimecas, Teotihuacans, Toltecs, and
Zapotecs, practice the traditions of indigenous medicine which
are widely known even today for the powers of medicinal herbs
and spiritual practices. Health practitioners - midwives,
herbalists, bone-setters, and prayers, passed their knowledge
down from generation to generation, and these traditional
beliefs and practices of healing are still rooted within the
many indigenous cultures that have settled mainly in the
southern and eastern parts of the country. These indigenous
peoples believe disease exists not only in man’s body but also
in his spirit, which unites him to the earth and