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La Huasteca is a geographical and cultural region located partially along the Gulf of Mexico and including parts of the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro and Guanajuato. It is roughly defined as the area in which the Huastec people had influence when their civilization was at its height during the Mesoamerican period. Today, the Huastecs occupy only a fraction of this region with the Nahua people now the most numerous indigenous group. However, those who live in the region share a number of cultural traits such as a style of music and dance, along with religious festivals such as Xantolo.
To the north and east there are relative flatlands. To the south there are hills of calcified sand. Basalt from old lava flows penetrate the primarily sedimentary rock from the west and appear with wind and water erosion. The higher mountain areas to the west often have tall peaks in capricious forms with steep slopes and eight fast running rivers. Highways in the region tend to be small and winding, especially in the higher elevations in San Luis Potosí and Hidalgo. Most of these rivers eventually empty into either the Panuco River or the with the zone belonging to the Pánuco, Tuxpan and Cazones River basins, all of which empty into the Gulf of Mexico. As much of the rock is easily eroded, the mountain areas are filled with caves and other underground openings. The best known of this is the Sótano de las Golondrinas (the 'Cave of Swallows') just north of Xilitla. It is famous for the large number of birds (mostly white-collared swifts and , not swallows) that emerge from the opening in the morning. It is also a site for base-jumping down the sink's depth. The birds return en masse again at nightfall. Many of the rivers run clear or turquoise blue in deep ravines or canyons and form waterfalls. The tallest of these is the Tamul, which is 300 meters wide and 105 meters tall. It joins the waters of the Gallinas River with those of the Santa Maria River to form the Tampaon River. Another important waterfall is the Tamasopo and at the Nacimiento del Río Huichihuayán (source of the Huichihuayán River) near the village of the same name, the water comes out of the mountains, forming pools large enough for swimming.
It is one of the most bio-diverse regions in Mexico, with over 2,000 species of plants. This diversity also extends into agricultural crops with local corn varieties resistant to drought. This area is mostly dominated by tropical rainforest, some of which is still semi-virgin with a hot humid climate with some areas of pine-holm oak forest in the highest elevations and arid bush and grassland in a few isolated areas. The Veracruz moist forests ecoregion encompasses the lowlands and foothills., accessed 18 Dec 2014 Tropical forests have species such as Ceiba pentandra or other Ceiba, Mexican cedar, Mexican ebony ( Harvardia mexicana, Ebenopsis ebano and species of Diospyros may all be called ébano), with palm species more common on the coastline. Tall growth perennial rainforest dominates in the states of Hidalgo and Veracruz with medium grown semi deciduous rainforest in San Luis Potosí. It also has a large number of species of algae, more diverse and of different types than those found in other parts of Mexico. It is also rich in wildlife such as parrots, , , owls, eagles, , deer, jaguar, wild boar and with various species of reptiles and insects.
The Sierra Madre Oriental pine–oak forests ecoregion covers the higher slopes of the Sierra Madre, and includes oak forests and pockets of cloud forest at middle elevations, and pine–oak forests and pine forests at higher elevations. South of the Moctezuma River, the Veracruz montane forests form a continuous belt of montane moist forests and cloud forests at middle elevations of the Sierra.
The main city in the SLP section is Ciudad Valles, founded by Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán in 1533. The most important city in the Hidalgo portion is Huejutla. Other important population centers include Tantoyuca, Tamazunchale and Chicontepec.
One section of the Huasteca is called the Sierra Gorda, which is centered on northern Querétaro, but extends into Hidalgo and Guanajuato.
The Huastecs are probably what remain of Mayan expansion northward up the Veracruz coast but were "left behind" after other Mayan groups retreated south and east. The Huastecs began to be culturally dominant in their region between 750 and 800 CE after El Tajín waned. From then to the 15th century, they expanded their territory and influence from the Tuxpan River to Tamiahua with most settlements along the banks of the Huayalejo-Tamesí River, along the northern Veracruz and southern Tamaulipas coast and west into the Sierra Madre Oriental. The culture was influential even farther west into northern Querétaro, and there may have been Huastec settlements into what is now northern Puebla.Ochoa, L. p. 29-30Ochoa, L. p. 168-169 Notable settlements include El Tamuín in San Luis Potosí, Yahualica and Huejutla in Hidalgo, Tzicóaxc on the Veracruz/Puebla border as well as Tuxpan, Temapache, Pánuco, and Tanhuijo in Veracruz.Ochoa, L. p. 33
Although the Huastecs built small cities and ceremonial centers, they never reached the size and complexity of others in Mesoamerica.Ochoa, L. p. 31-32 The northern areas were constantly threatened by the Chichimeca, which may be the origin for the traditional “Comanche” dance found in the region. In the Post classic, Huastec territory began to shrink.Ochoa, L. p. 32 In the west and south of their territory, there were enclaves of Nahuas, Tepehuas, Totonac people and Otomi people. The Totonacs and Tepehuas in the region probably arrived around the same time as the Huastecs. The Otomis and Nahuas arrived later but the time line for these migrations is disputed. One Nahua incursion occurs in 800 CE related to Tula and the other due to the expansion of the Aztec Empire. The conquered from the south and west to an area they called Chicoaque or Tzicoac in 1458, which was probably the area which is now Mesa de Cacahuatengo in the municipality of Ixhuatlán de Madero.Ochoa, L. p. 190
The first European contact with the Huasteca region was in 1498, when Italian Amerigo Vespucci, (or some European), sailing along the Tropic of Cancer, landed somewhere north of present-day Soto la Marina, and the Rio Grande river. (The Tropic of Cancer constantly moves South in 522 years). This explorer enjoyed friendly relations with the Huastecans, and wrote extensively about them. Including the Huastec word for Señores, and art work. His are the only written, eyewitness descriptions known of the civilization. Spanish conquistadores later explored the Pánuco River area. After the Conquest, Gonzalo de Sandoval burned alive about 460 nobles and chiefs in the region and captured about 20,000 natives to sell as slaves in the Antilles. The first evangelists in the area were the Franciscan order around 1530, with the Augustinians arriving in 1533, with the first large efforts in Pahuatlán, Puebla and Chicontepec. The area initially was under the Bishopric of Tlaxcala. But evangelization was slow, with period documents indicating that most pagan beliefs had not been extinguished well into the colonial period. One hundred and thirty were created in the region which lasted most of the 16th century and in some cases into the 17th. Spanish dominance in the coastal areas depopulated it of most indigenous people, with the Huastecs retreating south from Tamaulipas to Panúco and Tamaulipas and with many dying in the war and from disease.Ochoa, L. p. 191-193 The introduction of cattle into the flat areas prompted the Spanish to force the relocation of many indigenous groups in the area, sometimes with violence.Julieta Valle Esquivel (2025). 9789707530089, Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígena. . ISBN 9789707530089 Not all attempts to relocate indigenous groups were successful. There were notable failures in Hidalgo. However, its overall success managed to divide the region into new political units. Spanish policies and economic conditions forced many of the natives here to crowd together in certain areas, with Huastecs and Nahuas together in Ozuluama, Tantoyuca, Tamiahua and Tuxpan, and Nahuas and Otomis in Chicontepec and Huejutla. The new political units brought in other indigenous groups not normally part of the Huasteco, such as the Pame people in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro.
The Spanish then introduced African slaves into the area. While the indigenous populations made something of a comeback in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí, this did not happen in Veracruz. In the later colonial period, most Huastec communities were populated by , especially along the Veracruz and Tamaulipas coast. Today, the Huastec ethnicity is found only along a narrow strip extending from far northern Querétaro to far north of Veracruz near Tamiahua.Ochoa, L. p. 188
During the colonial period, the region was divided into five provinces called “alcaldías mayores”: Huauchinango, Huayacocotla-Chichontepec, Pánuco-Tampico, Huejutla and Yahualica. In the 19th century, most of the local leaders were chosen by charisma and political skill, rather than by lineage, although elder councils were still important in most indigenous communities. By the beginning of the 19th century, the use of elections to choose leaders began to be used, but with candidates chosen by the elite. The first municipal elections in the region were held in Chicontepec and Ixhuatlan in 1813.
From the first taking of land for cattle in the colonial period to the present, land struggles have been an important part of the region's history. In the 18th century, there were various uprisings in the region such as in Ilamatlán in 1750 and Huayacocotla in 1784 in response to higher taxes and takings of land. In the mid 17th century, a system of serfdom by debt began that would reach its height in the 19th, involving indigenous, mestizo and negro peoples. During the 17th century however, some peoples were able to take possession of land under a communal scheme, declaring it the property of the Virgin Mary or of a saint to keep landholders and political chiefs from taking it. From the second half of the 17th century to the first half of the 18th, there was a consolidation of haciendas with between 21 and 25 by 1790, about eighty cattle ranches and twenty three indigenous communities. At the end of the 18th century, records indicate that ninety percent of the population was Spanish, mestizo or mixed African descent, mostly in Chicontepec, Huayacocotla, Ixhuatlan and Xochioloco. Coffee was introduced to the mountain areas in the 19th century. Land and other agrarian conflicts have continued to the present day with local elections based on land use issues.(focus) The discovery of oil in northern Veracruz has led to an area called the Faja de Oro (Gold belt) extending from Chicontepec to the Gulf coast. It has also caused environmental damage and made subsistence farming difficult to impossible in many areas. Conflicts have even led to the formation of armed groups such as the Ejercito Popular Revolucionario in the latter 20th century. Despite brokered talks and disarming, the region is conflictive, especially along the Hidalgo/Veracruz border.
The major development of the 20th century in the Huasteca was the development of roadways and other infrastructure to connect it with the rest of the country.Ochoa, L. p. 195 Until the latter 20th century, many of the municipalities of the region did not have paved roads, with a few still in this situation to this day. The highways and other roads in this area have allowed for seasonal and permanent emigration out of the area by younger generations looking for work. In the 20th century, preschool and primary school were widely introduced into the area. They have included various models of instruction including bilingual and bicultural education. At higher levels, it has included distance education for middle and high school. More recently, there has been a push for especially technical education such as the Tecnológico de Huejutla and the Universidad Comunitaria de la Huasteca Norte. This has raised literacy rates as well as the ability to speak Spanish among the indigenous. It has also caused cultural changes as younger generations have access to information about the outside world.
The dream of creating the Huastec State has been regarded as a utopia for the governors of three states adjacent in century XX, who are the main opponents to the project of creation of the federal entity number 33 of the United Mexican States. For the next autumn, Creación del Estado Huasteco (Spanish). the civilians seeking the means to integrate as a new entity, indigenous communities, farmers and citizens directly and indirectly apriban(agrarian?) building project. Proyect Huastec State.
The main arguments are, the abandonment of the region by their state governments, cultural and racial integration which was divided by the region in the colonial and republican period. The reintegration of the Huastec people is considered a historic debt that it has with the indigenous peoples of the region.
Despite the fact that the large region is named after them, the Huastec people today only occupy a fraction of it in a strip from northwest Querétaro east towards the north of Veracruz. The largest Huastec communities are found in the mountain areas of Otontepec and Tantoyuca in Veracruz, Tancanhuitz, Tanlajas and Aquismón in San Luis Potosí. Huastecs are a Mayan people, whose language probably separated about 3,000 years ago. Their presence is here is most likely due to Mayan expansion north along the Veracruz coast until sometime between 1000 and 1500 CE, when they were forced back south, leaving the Huastec group in the far north isolated.
The name Huastec comes from Nahuatl; the Huastec call themselves Teenek. While the Huastec were the most northern Mesoamerican culture, their culture is distinct from those in the Mexican Plateau, which whom they had contact and from other Mayan groups. One reason for this was their contact with the Chichimecas to the north, and their isolation from other Mayan cultures. While the Huastecs managed to spread their influence over a large territory, they never built cities and ceremonial centers as large as in other parts of Mesoamerica. One reason for this was that the Chichimeca were a constant threat.Ochoa, L. p. 29-32 In the Post Classic period, Huastec territory shrank due to incursions by Nahuas and Otomi in the south and west, culminating into Aztec conquest of much of the territory by the early 16th century. This loss of land would continue into the Spanish colonial period with mestizos coming to dominate the region, especially in the Veracruz and Tamaulipas coast areas.
Nahua peoples communities and the Nahuatl language are now the most dominant indigenous influence in La Huasteca, especially in the south and west of the region. The Nahuas dominate the southern part of La Huasteca in over fifty municipalities in San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo and Veracruz, such as Jaltocan and Calnali in Hidalgo, Ixhuatlán de Madero and Benito Juárez in Veracruz.Ochoa, L. p. 190 It is likely that many of the Nahuas in the south of La Huasteca are descended from ethnic Huastecs who shifted to Nahuatl. There are two main dialects of Nahuatl spoken in the region. The Nahuas in the north of the region share a number of cultural traits with the Huastec and those in the south share traits with the Otomis and Tepehuas but all are considered to be part of the same Nahua subgroup. The Huasteca Nahuas in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí have put effort into developing a shared identity in the face of land and political struggles.
The Otomi people were the first to conquer the southern part of La Huastecas as they fled Nahua domination in their original home of the Toluca Valley.
It is thought that the Totonac people and Tepehuas in the region date back as far as the Huastecs. These people are found in the very far south of the region and both were conquered by the incoming Otomi as well as the Nahuas in the Mesoamerican period.
The most traditional dance and music of the region is called the Huapango or Son Huasteco. It is played by a trio of musicians: one playing a small, five-string rhythm guitar called a jarana huasteca, one on an eight-string bass guitar called a quinta huapanguera and another playing a violin. The two guitarists sing coplas, or short poetry stanzas, alternating verses between them. Son huasteco has two unique trademarks: improvised violin ornamentations based on a melody, and the use of a high falsetto voice. The style has spread beyond Veracruz and San Luis Potosí to other states including Hidalgo, which is now another center for the music. Unlike other folk music in Mexico, it is not in danger of disappearing and remains in high demand for major celebrations in La Huasteca. The music has been researched and cataloged for over forty years which has resulted in a two CD compilation called El Gusto. It was also the focus of a documentary called “A Mexican Sound” by Roy Germano.
The dance is performed on an elevated platform called a zapatea. The music and dance in its several varieties is shared by all the ethnicities of the region. It is most often performed in rural social events called “fandangos.” . It is also performed at the various Huastec cultural events such as the Festival de la Huasteca in Querétaro.
Traditional dishes include , , barbacoa and especially a corn pudding called zacahuil.
The end of wet season farming ends with Xantolo. It is similar to Day of the Dead and celebrated at the same time, but it has important differences. Xantolo brings people to cemeteries as well but it is to celebrate the living and the dead, as it marks the harvest of this growing season. Preparations for Xantolo last a week with altars remaining through November. Gifts of food are prepared to exchange with god parents, friends, family and neighbors. Altars consist of arches over a rectangular table. Each corner of the table has a pole to represent the four stages of human life (childhood, adolescence, adult and old age). The poles are bent towards the center above the table to form arches, and covered with branches of local flora. It shares certain elements with Day of the Dead such as cempasúchil flowers, papel picado and the creation of altars to the dead adorned with local fruit, candles and copal incense. It lasts from 29 October with the slaughter of pigs and turkeys. October 30 and 31 are for the remembrance of children and adults respectively and November 1 is not only for saints but also to honor godparents. A traditional dance for the event has groups of dancers who ridicule the powerful of the local society then are chained by a devil. These dancers perform with cloth masks, with the aim that Death does not recognize them and take them away.
The Volador rite is performed by the Huastecs in the east of San Luis Potosí although they wear normal clothes adorned with feathers. The exception is the captain who wears a red or blue tunic.Ochoa, L. p. 84
Carnival is important in the Veracruz part of the Huasteca, but each as a very local and religious character.Ochoa, L. p. 100-101 For the Nahuas, Carnival is considered to be a “ritual of inversion” where social norms are relaxed. This is done to “placate the Devil” and keep him happy as well. Activities include men dressing as women and local authorities are made powerless temporarily. Offerings are also made by burial, perhaps an offering to the underworld. In many communities, many birds are slaughtered and alcohol is drunk in abundance. Carnival marks the end of dry season farming before rains begin in earnest in April. Ceremonies to ask for abundant rain begin after the end of Lent .
Like most rural indigenous, the economy is based on agriculture, especially the growing of corn. Other important aspects include cattle, the processing of sugar cane, coffee and the growing of citrus as a cash crop although most of this is under the control of mestizos. Piloncillo from sugar cane is an important processed product, most of which is shipped to Jalisco for the tequila industry.
Handcrafts of the area include ceramics in Huejutla, ixtle items, , cross stitch decorated garments in the region on the Hidalgo-Veracruz border, musical instruments and furniture, especially chairs made of cedar and other tropical hardwoods. In the area around Tantoyuca, Veracruz, handcrafts from a fiber called zapupe and palm is used to make hats, carrying bags and other objects.
Main regional markets include Tantoyuca, Huejutla, Tamazunchale and Chicontepec.
Most of the region is not visited by foreign tourists as the preference is for the beaches. Ecotourism attractions include rappelling alongside waterfalls, rafting on rivers such as the Santa Maria, most of which are located in the state of San Luis Potosí. Englishman Edward James built Las Pozas (The Wells) in an area of coffee and banana plantations near Xilitla. The poet lived here from 1949 until his death in 1984. The gardens contains giant sculptures, pagodas, and staircases to nowhere over a property of 32 hectares. The poet's former home is a mansion of turrets and Gothic windows in the middle of the jungle. Today it is a hotel with the name of La Posada El Castillo.
For bus transportation, most of the main bus companies serve the main cities. Between smaller towns, tourists must generally rely on shared mini-vans, called 'colectivos.' However, taxi and car rentals are also relatively affordable.
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