This former dentist who entered his family’s jewelry-making tradition keeps alive an indigenous artisan item that almost went extinct.
Stories by Leigh Thelmadatter
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Is Cuauhtémoc buried in Guerrero, or is his grave an elaborate hoax?
In 1949, artist Diego Rivera announced the discovery of the warrior’s grave. Indigenous groups and academics are still debating its veracity.
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Want to know Mexico’s history? Read its street signs
Most countries have street names to preserve the memory of historic events and people, and certainly, Mexico is no exception.
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Diverse Baja migrant community finds pride, identity, connection in murals
Artists Julia Celeste and Rogelio Santos use street art to improve community ties in San Quintín, a poor rural farming area near Ensenada.
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In a tiny, remote Michoacán community, Purépecha artisans embroider award-winning designs
A pair of women’s artisan collectives in the tiny community of Zipiajo work together for mutual success.
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Drowned by Mexico’s thirst, underwater towns emerge during drought
Seeking to modernize, the nation entered a dam-building period from 1910 through the 1980s, with whole communities sacrificed in the process.
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Chef and Oaxacan cuisine authority got her start in grandma’s kitchen
Celia Florián’s first job was at a bank. But she never forgot the childhood joy of learning to cook from the women in her family.
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How San Cristóbal de las Casas became a haven for chocolate, coffee
In just a few decades, San Cristóbal de las Casas has gone from sleepy Chiapas town to a center for high-end makers of these gourmet treats.
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Durango artist gives back culturally to the city he escaped to as a child
After a deadly neighbor dispute, Trinidad Núñez Quiñones’ family fled to Durango. The chance arrival in the city changed his life.
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Is ‘Mexico’ a country? A state? A city? An identity? The answer is yes
The Spanish imposed this Nahuatl word when they conquered the Aztec Empire. What has given it such lasting power through the nation’s history?
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Tlaxcala’s role in the Conquest led to ongoing cultural repercussions
In siding against the Aztecs with Hernán Cortés, the Tlaxcala people both got privileges in the colonial era and stigmatized as traitors.
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Artisans’ longstanding partnership falls victim to its own success
A once mutually beneficial mercantile relationship between two artisan communities now threatens the health of their economies and ecosystems.
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Bright star of Tonalá’s famed burnished pottery artisans began as an outlier
Unlike many of Tonalá’s acclaimed maestros, José Luis Cortéz didn’t grow up with the craft. He fell in love with it as a factory worker.
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Baja California artist continues Mexican tradition of examining womanhood
Alejandra Phelts’s art evokes the creative legacy of female Mexican greats like Frida Kahlo, Remedio Varo and María Izquierdo.
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Puppetry duo brings rural communities entertainment, emotional support
Sandra Reyes and Ángel Ledezma’s work entertains children in remote towns but also helps the kids’ adult relatives process trauma and grief.
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Are Mexico’s iconic donkeys in danger of extinction?
Many believe the nation’s pack animals are dying out, but they are still part of life in areas where using vehicles is near impossible.
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People power fuels Mexico’s newest wave of murals
Leigh Thelmadatter catalogues a nationwide movement of street art popping up in communities where residents are recruited as artists.
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Nahua weaver group doesn’t just preserve dying skills, it’s changing lives
The women of Zongolica, Veracruz, came together to keep knowledge of their traditional techniques alive, but they’ve managed so much more.
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How an accident led to one Oaxacan woman’s revival of a dying handcraft
Barro negro, or black clay pottery, might have disappeared forever from San Bartolo, Oaxaca, if not for one woman’s ingenuity and good timing.
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Cubans, soccer players and Yanks: citizenship’s lure draws a varied mix
Requirements for Mexican naturalization tend to favor educated Spanish speakers, but the nation receives applications from all over the world.
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Is a symbol of rebellion once known worldwide dying out in Chiapas?
Zapatista rebel dolls, sold to visitors fascinated by the 1990s indigenous uprising, are now near impossible to find in Chiapas.
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Mexico loses artist who ‘played with dolls’ after 1985 earthquake
Vicente Rojo, who died on March 17 at age 89, was an artist whose work reflected many of the major events of 20th-century Mexico.
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Kitten season: not as happy a time of year as it might sound
Cats can give birth year-round, but both temperature and varying day length seem to lead to more babies being born during certain periods.
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Patriotic or predatory? Inside Mexicans’ love-hate relationship with Oxxo
The first Oxxo convenience stores opened in 1978 to sell beer. Today, the popular chain is highly involved in customers’ financial lives.
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Nonprofits help Mexico’s artisans learn to sell in a socially distanced world
Covid deprived many artisans of their usual sales methods, but these NGOs are teaching them internet marketing and greater independence.
