Mazatec Explained

Group:	Mazatec Ha Shuta Enima
Population:	~305,836
Popplace:	Mexico (Oaxaca)
Rels:	Roman Catholic, and Traditional religion
Langs:	Mazatec, Spanish
Related:	Popolocas

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.

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

• María Sabina
• Julieta Casimiro

See also

• Indigenous peoples in Mexico
• Mixtec

References

• Book: Campbell, Lyle . Lyle Campbell . 1997 . American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America . OUP paperback edition, 2000. Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics, 4 . William Bright (series general ed.). Oxford University Press. New York . 978-0-19-509427-5 . 32923907.
• Web site: CDI [Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas] . Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas . 2004–2007 . Mazatecos - Ha shuta Enima . Información: Los pueblos indígenas de México . CDI . 2007-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070609231402/http://cdi.gob.mx/index.php?id_seccion=305 . 2007-06-09 . es . dead .
• Book: Karttunen, Frances E. . Frances Karttunen . 1994 . Between Worlds: Interpreters, Guides, and Survivors . New Brunswick, NJ . . 978-0-8135-2030-8 . 28150669 . registration .
• Encyclopedia: Mooney, James. 1911 . Mazatec Indians . . New Advent online reproduction . X . New York . Robert Appleton and Company . 2007-05-02.
• Valdés, Leander J., III . José Luis Díaz . Ara G. Paul . 1983 . Ethnopharmacology of ska María Pastora (Salvia divinorum, Epling and Játiva-M). Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 7. 3. 287 - 312. 10.1016/0378-8741(83)90004-1 . 6876852. 2027.42/25229 . free.

External links

• Article from the Catholic Encyclopedia

Notes and References

1. Wauchope, R. (2015). Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volumes 7 and 8: Ethnology. United States: University of Texas Press. pg 325
2. [Jean Basset Johnson]
3. Valdés et al. (1983)
4. Web site: Osiris Sinuhé González Romero . 2022-02-10 . Mazatec Shamanic Knowledge and Psilocybin Mushrooms . 2022-04-15 . Chacruna . en-US.