Mazatec
Indigenous People of Mexico From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mazatec are an Indigenous people of Mexico who inhabit the Sierra Mazateca in the state of Oaxaca and some communities in the adjacent states of Puebla and Veracruz.
Mazatec girls performing a dance in Huautla de Jimenez | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ~305,836 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mexico (Oaxaca) | |
| Languages | |
| Mazatec, Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholic, and Traditional religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Popolocas |
Some researchers have theorized that the Mazatec, along with Popoloca speakers, once inhabited the lowlands of the Papaloapan basin, but were driven into the adjacent highlands by the expansion of Nahuas.[1]
Language family
The Mazatecan languages are part of the Popolocan family which, in turn, is part of the Otomanguean language family.
Traditional religious rituals
Mazatec tradition includes the cultivation of entheogens for spiritual and ritualistic use. Plants and fungi used for this purpose include psilocybin mushrooms, psychoactive morning glory seeds (from species such as Ipomoea tricolor and Ipomoea corymbosa), and Salvia divinorum.[2][3][4] This latter plant is known to Mazatec shamans as ska María Pastora, the name containing a reference to the Virgin Mary.[3]
Notable Mazatecs
See also
Notes
References
External links
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