The Purépecha nation is a thousand-year-old indigenous people, which managed to impose itself on the Aztecs. They live in Michoacán, the name of this State, it means the place of fishermen, since its original inhabitants settled around large lakes, such as Pátzcuaro, protected by volcanoes. We started in Santa Fé de la Laguna, in many of these Purépecha towns, there are statues of Bishop Vasco de Quiroga, who after the chaos caused by the Spanish conquest, was sent to the region to pacify Michoacán. In this square of Santa Fé, we have the monument of Vasco de Quiroga, but something interesting for those who saw the movie Coco, is that this fountain has in the film, the statue of Ernesto de la Cruz, who is the famous singer, that sadly is already dead. Many things that you see in the film, the streets, the square, the portal, this is what we are seeing in Santa Fé de la Laguna. Even the locals claim that the 107-year-old great-grandmother, María de la Salud, who inspired the creation of the character Mama Coco, lives here . Michoacán comes alive on the Day of the Dead, right? Of course, it is an important celebration for all of us, and also very colorful, the Day of the Dead in Mexico we know that it is a holiday, it is not a day to cry but to remember the deceased, the souls of the people who already They left and are in a paradise, but only on that day do they return with us, so for the people of Michoacán, it is a reason to party, to celebrate. Hey and for the people who want to visit Michoacán? My travel agency is called K'uinchekua, what does it mean? In Purépecha it means party, the k'uinchekua of Michoacán, it is the party, the jolgorio, and that's why we go to Michoacán, to the towns, to enjoy the party. With culture. I recommend looking for me on social networks, simply looking for my name Alfredo Tour Guide, on Instagram, on Facebook. And they will recognize it, because it is focused on the State of Michoacán. In this town called Santa Fé de la Laguna, on the north bank of the lake, is where the Purépecha language and culture are most jealously preserved , and throughout Michoacán, there are a million and a half people who speak the language purepecha. They are bilingual. Yes, correct. And what does this mural mean? The mural has different elements of flora and fauna, which we could identify with their name, in the Purépecha language, in addition to teaching children at home, there is a bilingual school, where local teachers still keep the knowledge alive. of the language, and this is important, to be able to transmit this culture to the following generations. The Purepecha do not like to be referred to as Tarascan. because that's what the Spaniards called them. The community, although it is indigenous, converts to Catholicism at the time of the conquest, and this is a town where you can see the mixture of Christianity with the Purepecha culture. We are going to see a virgin dressed as an indigenous woman. Seriously? Yes, yes, it is very interesting, here is a very miraculous Christ. On the outskirts of the church, we meet Inés Dimas, a traditional Purépecha cook. The symbolism that the church, the hospital, the school have for them are important elements of the Purépecha culture, particularly, the space that we know as the huatápera, which is a 16th century construction, which also has a chapel of the Virgin Mary , and where the huatápera, continues to have the same use, for which it was built in the 16th century. It is a building that works for the benefit of the community, to provide assistance to poor people, orphans, the underprivileged, there they are given shelter, food, health care, education and also a trade. This idea of being able to provide services to the community is originated by Don Vasco de Quiroga, in the 16th century, and the construction has been preserved as is, with the same use. What are you doing? Tamales? Flour tamales This is a living heritage of the Purépecha culture. We can see the image of the Virgin Protectress of the Purépecha Women, the attached chapel of the huatápera, is a space that only belongs to the women of the town, very few times we see men doing the cleaning, placing the pieces, the saints, the images and the flowers, is a space relegated to women because they are maidens, young people, virgins, those who must care for and protect the Virgin for a full year. And when we see adult women, the ones who are old, they are the ones who are teaching the girls, the next generation, how to preserve these traditions. Fortunately, this has been preserved, because it is the Purépecha woman who is in charge of transmitting knowledge, language, customs, clothing, music, and Purépecha education. And it is how we know this Purépecha culture, after almost 500 years of history. I had never seen, I think in a church, such colorful flowers. The color is interesting for the Purépecha culture as well, all the colors that we see symbolize the rays of the Sun, this is what the Michoacán field represents, the brightly colored flowers that are everywhere, particularly in the fall, the yellow flowers, which represent the place of the dead, the place where the souls of the dead come to visit us, on November 1. There are very few towns in Mexico, where you can see a Christian image with indigenous clothing, and in this chapel of Santa Fé, where we can see the image of the virgin with indigenous clothing. That, thank you very much. How do you say thank you in Purépecha? Diosi meyamu, thank you very much. This is a very beautiful town, very original, and something that surprised me a lot, for example, is that I went in to buy water, and another woman also entered, and began to order her things in Purépecha, so, yes, it is a living language, it is used in people's everyday lives. We must take care of this language, because it is a cultural heritage of all of us. The Purepecha stand out for their craftsmanship, so we visit the home of an artisan. Hello, my name is Nicolás Fabián Fermín, originally from this community, my work basically consists of making pieces of clay, clay pottery, this is my workshop, here I work, here I spent most of the time, I make the pieces, We polish them, we burnish them and later we draw them, so that the color of the body of the clay stands out, we burn them, and thus the pieces come out. Since we were children we worked, we played with clay, also the inheritance of our grandparents, of my elders. We work in the house, a family, because we live on this, and also, because it is a bit of support, what the popular art movement is, and what inspires the Purépecha? Mainly nature, we have lakes, we have forests, birds, the fields right now in October, which are full of mirasols. Since we were children, our primary food, obviously to be corn, I make a lot what corn is, and fish as the primary base of food after the tortilla, I remember, that in the lake at that time that I grew up in my childhood the water was clear, then saw shoals of fishes, from little ones, and medium and large had fish endemic, natural lake, one knows him as ajolote, but here we know as achoque. Ah, they also have axolotls ... Yes, yes, achoque, which was endemic here, it was because there is already very little. He let us into the kitchen, literally. What does your corn mean you have here? Look is a way to save the seeds for next year, when you harvest one, choose the best ears, and obviously they are for the seedbed, then the pineapples that are known are made, as this is white and there we have the colored one. After the coming of the Spaniards, this vernacular construction began to enter, using adobe, using wood and tile. In my community it is still very marked, that we communicate in our mother tongue, myself, my daughters, I have two, since I was little, from girls, from newborn, we speak to them in our language, and that's how they grow. We are a little more than 6,500 inhabitants, but a percentage already speak Purépecha, but they speak it very Castilianized, you can say, so that's really a problem, no, because they think they are speaking Purépecha, but they are really already speaking a language Distorted, unfortunately, as a speaker as being indigenous, I can come dressed in Purepecha to the United States, or wherever, I am not ashamed, and I have never felt that of discrimination. We must value ourselves as such, as human beings first, and later, bearers of a millenary heritage, of an ancient culture, that gives you value and gives you the strength to present yourself, wherever, whatever, with anyone, I can talk right now In Purépecha and nothing Here in the community we have radio, we speak Purépecha, Purépecha music and everything, I participate in that movement, I am an announcer for my community. It fills me, it satisfies me, but it is also a commitment. Tata, thank you very much for receiving us at the doors of your house, it is an honor to be here for us. Why Tata Nicolás? What does Tata mean in the community? Tata is something undeserved for me, basically, it is respect, being a Tata of a people, because it means carrying a very great weight, mainly for representing a culture, being recognized for your work, not so much because I say so, but because People visit me, because they like my work, and since I have been working on this for 23 years, I think it is a reference. My workshop is called Ahuanda is firmament, universe, sky, cosmos. My dream was that when I did this job, it would be great, great like my wife, great like my family, great like my daughters, and well , we have to fight to make this great. and that Santa Fé is known. Thanks a lot. Well, you are a living heritage, of the Purépecha culture and of this town. Now we are in Quiroga, and in Quiroga the tradition is to eat a taco of carnitas, it is one of the traditional dishes of Michoacán, the easiest way is to buy a kilo, a half kilo, and share it with the whole family, and then, here directly with an omelette can make a taco, you choose a sauce, and then enjoy the carnitas Michoacan are the best, even in other parts of Mexico, those who sell carnitas, use a legend, which says Michoacan style, because they recognize the quality we have, why are they better? Because it turns out that there is pig farming in Michoacán, the care of the animals is very strict, the little animal that is well fed will give us a good quality of meat ... And you have your taco of carnitas. It is a paradise in your mouth, literal. And this doesn't look like meat? What is it? No, this is the little horn. And what is the little horn? The Cuerito is the skin of the pig. Okay. In different parts of the pig, the skin has a different thickness than the fat layer, and this little fat is enough, because it gives flavor to the taco de cueritos, so you fold the taco and eat cueritos. They say that the carnitas from Michoacán are the best. Look at nothing else, everything they are going to eat. We invite you to come here to Quiroga to eat some delicious carnitas, here we wait for you every day of the week, they are Polo de Cuco Rivera carnitas. We are going to Tzintzuntzan, to decipher the origin of the Purépecha, their language is not related to any other in the region, but researchers have found a similarity to Quechua, the language of the Incas in South America. And this culture was contemporary with the Aztecs, what does this mean? Who lived at the same time, from 1200 to 1500, and were not friends, they rivaled. Here is the heart of the Purépecha empire, Tzintzuntzan is known to have been, the seat of government of the Purepecha culture. In this archaeological site the Caltzontzin, who was the highest ruler, had his residence , but also military leaders, priests and chiefs of other nearby communities. In Tzintzuntzan, there was the exercise of power, both civil and religious, and we are on the eastern bank of the lake, where a short distance away, we find other sites with archaeological remains as well, such as Ihuatzio and Pátzcuaro, they were also government seats before the conquest Spanish. Tzintzuntzan, means place of the hummingbird, it is an important place because it is considered that the hummingbird is a messenger of the gods, when an inhabitant of the town sees a hummingbird, he understands that there is a message sent, by the gods to man, and by that's what they called this place. It is interesting to see how the archaeological site allows us to see a mixed construction, because we cannot properly call it pyramids, what we find in Tzintzuntzan, they are called yácatas, the word comes from the Purépecha language, and a yácata, is a pile of stones, It is called that, because the construction is made without mortar, without adherent, only by placing one stone on the other, in a way that they cannot collapse, and this construction system has also been preserved for more than 500 years . They have a mixed plant, which is formed by a part that is semicircular, and another, which is rectangular, when these two are joined, then they form a basement, which has different levels, reaching up to the ninth, in the upper part, it is known that formerly there was an altar, a shrine, where a fire was permanently lit, constantly throwing smoke into the sky. This figure of the yácatas of Tzintzuntzan, reminds us then, the figure that has a mountain or a volcanic building, in the same way that it is throwing smoke from the top, unfortunately, the temples and shrines were destroyed, the stone idols too what we find now is only the foundation made of volcanic rock, where there are petroglyphs, these figures carved in stone, is known to have been made with tools made of copper, because copper was an exclusive metal Purepecha. The Purépecha military success was due precisely to the fact that they were skilled workers of copper and gold, so they became a Mesoamerican power, which resisted the push of the Aztec empire, repelled several of its invasions. the Michoacan empire extended to Guanajuato and Guerrero. It was also difficult to carry out evangelization, especially because there is resistance, but also, because in many towns, people had to emigrate, to hide from the Spanish, in the mountains and on the volcanoes. In addition to the cruelty with which they treated the indigenous people, the Purépecha had to leave their town, especially due to diseases, it is known that in Tzintzuntzan, there was a great smallpox epidemic, which caused the death of thousands and thousands of indigenous inhabitants in this place. The Purépecha were polytheists, and the only way the Spanish managed to control this region was through religion. The Purépecha nation managed to save certain beliefs, which can be seen in the present syncretism, in the old Franciscan convent of Santa Ana in Tzintzuntzan. This is the flagstone, volcanic stone, where we can see the construction system, it is very similar to the yácatas of Tzintzuntzan, but here below we find basalt, these basalt blocks are the ones that have petroglyphs, they have engravings made in the stone, and surely with copper instruments. The attraction of Tzintzuntzan is precisely this very large space that we have, known as the Atrium of Olives, because here we find the olive trees planted in the 16th century, which are more than 480 years old, it is thought that there were 33 olive trees originally, and that symbolized the life of Christ, we think these olive trees were planted, by the Franciscans of the convent that we are going to see, to make use of the fruit and obtain olive oil, but it also recalls this place, the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem . The most surprising thing is that we find that the olive trees still have life, although they no longer bear fruit, especially because here we are at 2,100 meters above sea level, in a climate not similar to the Middle East. This can be said, that they are the oldest olive trees in Mexico , right? Correct, and we can also say that they are the first olive trees planted on the continent. See how wide they are, the age of the olive trees, they can be measured by the width of their trunk, only in Jerusalem have I seen olive trees as wide as these, more than 500 years these trees, they have seen the Independence and the present time of Mexico . The Atrium of the Olives was built with the same volcanic stone, which they used in the archaeological site of Tzintzuntzan, the indigenous people dragged the stones, to build this 16th century Franciscan convent, At the entrance of the former convent, we can see remains of the mural painting from the 16th century, representing Father Sun and Mother Moon, these are the Father Gods of the Purépecha, here Christian symbols will be mixed with elements of the Purépecha culture. With the passage of time, when baptism comes, the figure of Christ merges with the father Sun, and the figure of the Virgin Mary merges with the mother Moon. Here we have a younger olive tree, surely planted, with the seeds of the fruit of the oldest trees, and well, we say that it is young, because it is probably not more than 100 years old. Why are the sun and the temple perfectly positioned when it rises? The location of the atrium of the temple is oriented towards the four cardinal points, in such a way that this is a space, where the indigenous person was in direct contact with the God, with the Solar God, and the easiest way to do it was simply approaching the atrium, and waiting here for the moment of dawn, when the sun rises in the east, it is the moment that God is received. Night was coming, and time to sleep in Pátzcuaro, and we did it in a historical site. In 1545, Augustinian friars decided to found in what is now the Hotel Misión Pátzcuaro, a hospital chapel, to catechize the Purépecha Indians, artisanal and educational teaching was given to children and adults, very similar to what we saw in Santa Fé de la Lagoon. Well, we already arrived at the Hotel Misión, and as you can see the room is wonderful, the bed, I wish I could tell you what I am feeling, you cannot imagine how tired I am, I am ready to sleep. The next day, the statue of Tangáxoan, stood before us, he was the last Purepecha emperor, who accepted the arrival of the Spanish to save his people, and negotiate a peace treaty, however, the conquerors betrayed him and They sued, accusing him of upholding his religion and encouraging disobedience. We are now at the Pátzcuaro dock, where the boats that take us to navigate this lake leave, until we find the island of Janitzio, which is one of the four islands that are in this lake. This lake is sacred. It is also an important point to learn about the Purépecha culture, because I am going to talk to you, Pátzcuaro, means in the Purépecha language, the door of heaven, and for them, door of heaven, is this lake of Pátzcuaro, because water symbolizes, the place where the dead will reach the underworld, the place where all the souls of the deceased are. So, we are looking at the big door to get to heaven. At the moment it is a tourist place, and well, we can find in this route of the lake, a boat that takes us to know the Janitzio promenade, it takes us to know the volcanoes that surround this lake, and also the main attraction of the island, which It is the Morelos monument that is in the upper part, the figure of Morelos, which represents freedom for us in Mexico, so it is like the statue of Liberty, the symbol of freedom in Mexico. We are going to approach Erika, that's the name of the boat, Janitzio in Purépecha means corn flower. We are already arriving on the island of Janitzio, about 2 thousand people live here, and I love this town, when I came as a child, they spoke a lot of Purépecha, I hope it continues to be the same case. The island received us with the traditional dance of the Old People, which is danced to the rhythm of the pirekuas, a Purépecha musical genre, this pre-Hispanic dance was prohibited by the Spanish, yet it managed to transcend to the present day. What a way to receive us at Janitzio. We were fortunate to be able to interview Julio César Cortés, the group's teacher. What is the name of your dance group? My dance group is called Kuaruricha, which means fishermen, referring here to the activity that is fishing, and the dance we interpret is the dance of the Old People, originally from the indigenous community, from the former island of Jarácuaro, Michoacán, which is located on the right side of this lake region, what is the origin of this dance? The first origin that was conceptualized was that they danced to the four cardinal points, if we go back a little in history, the masks that they represent today were painted with a little smallpox, which was one of the primary diseases, that the Spaniards brought in their conquest, and were the cause of the death of the last Caltzontzin, later the dance evolved, in Jarácuaro they could get its distinctive, which was the little train, which was the boom, which now it projected to the lake region, and represented the beautiful State of Michoacán, nationally and internationally. The artistic creator of this dance of the Old People is Tata Gervacio López Patricio. How do you feel when you can interpret this? No, because a pride, it is a joy, it is something indescribable, because within it, well, one rejoices, feels the energy, when listening to the melodies, the sounds. Why should this be passed on to the new Purépecha generations? Well, because through dance, crafts, as well as gastronomy, it is possible to preserve and continue to maintain this cultural wealth that our ancestors have left us, through generations and generations, obviously, since we are in modern times, where the music is updated as well as the steps, but we continue to maintain that seed. Here the dance, currently ours, which represents us, the dance of the White Fish, the dance of the Butterflies, the Navigator Fisherman and the New Year's dance. Our culture is Purépecha, our mother tongue is Purépecha, we are already settled here in the lake region, where the three manors currently exist, Tzintzuntzan, place of hummingbirds, where the Purepecha empire was, Ihuatzio, place of coyotes, and later Pátzcuaro, place of the blackness. Sadly, well speaking of the Purépecha language, when going to study outside our region, because there was a lot of discrimination, today it is the opposite, schools have been opened, for the rescue, maintenance and conservation of the mother tongue. The same with clothing ... Currently, only those who represent our clothing are women. Previously, approximately 8 or 7 years ago, there was still a man who dressed, he did every day with his blanket pants, these are blanket pants, his blanket shirt, the man daily, and start to weave the nets. These panties are made by our mothers, notice that previously, only two colors were handled, two pigments, which is blue and red, through the combinations of the cochineal, and all that. As here before, within the hills had venados, here you can see deer just like nature. We prepare the huaraches from this wood, we use plywood for casting, and split them into two parts, and you can see, because nothing else is embedded in two ways, on the shore, so that, when the step falls ... With the pure metatarsal I am already giving the pure blow, They are the secrets that we are acquiring through the years, through dancing. Previously, when we danced, after a sound or a shot ... The Spaniard said: oh bravo, they idolize us. It was a lie, that was a mockery of the Spanish. That uuuu, that is a mockery of the Spaniards, They did not conquer through religion, through the region they conquered us, here there was not so much massacre. They brought their gods, but here we had Curicaueri, Curicaueri, the god of the Sun, and Nana Kutsi, the goddess of the Moon. The most fascinating spectacle of Janitzio, is to see the traditional fishermen, looking for charales and white fish, they have maintained this practice for hundreds of years, This is how the Purépecha nation lives, between lakes, such as Pátzcuaro and Zirahuén, protected by volcanoes. The Purépecha nation is divided into four large regions, such as the Purépecha plateau, where we were able to enter a primary school, and witness the honors of the flag in Purépecha. Long live Mexico! The most important thing about this trip is ... What language are we speaking? Purepecha! Now let's say it in Spanish. Visit Michoacán.