Durango Nahuat

The Durango Nahuat (Mexicanero), a small Aztec group numbering about 1500, live in remote subtropical canyons of Mexico’s Durango State. As subsistence farmers, they produce corn, grain amaranth, and squash, and supplement their diet by hunting game and gathering wild foods. Though incorporating some elements of Catholicism into their religion, they have retained their pre-Columbian worship of the sun, moon, planet Venus, the eagle, and the deer. There are only three known Nahuat believers.

Southern Tepehuan

The approximately 26,000 Southern Tepehuan are located in the mountainous country of southern Durango State. They are subsistence farmers who live in scattered homesteads and maintain small herds of livestock. Over the centuries they have assimilated many Catholic forms into their traditional practices.

A Christo-paganism has resulted, which incorporates Catholic feast days with Native ceremonies. Today there are 7 small Tepehuan churches with an estimated 400 true believers. Ameritribes works with a small number of Tepehuan who have intermarried with Nahuat.