Welcome, bienvenidos, and ximopanolti to my website!
My name is Katie Hamel, and I am a junior studying Anthropology and Spanish at the University of Notre Dame. During the summer of 2013, I went to Amatlán, Mexico, a rural village in Northern Veracruz based around subsistence agriculture.
While I was in Amatlán, I taught English to kindergartners, elementary, and high school students while conducting a research project about Nahuatl, the indigenous language spoken by the Nahua who live in Amatlán. The village is going through a time of social, cultural, and economic change, and the way people communicate is changing as a result.
Indigenous culture is often lost in the balance as Mexico’s economy becomes more urban and industrial. The Nahua of the Huasteca are no exception to this erosion of indigenous culture. The youth of Amatlán are losing their ability to speak Nahuatl. I interviewed children, teenagers, and young adults to examine the languages they spoke, their opinions about the loss of Nahuatl, and how they identified themselves in relation to their linguistic abilities and preferences.
Based on this research, there is evidence that as the young people speak Nahuatl less often, they identify as “Nahua” or “indigenous” less often. This is interesting because almost all of the informants said that Nahuatl is important and they want it to survive. Despite the efforts of educational and governmental institutions to ignite interest in Nahuatl, it is unlikely that this trend will reverse. Larger political, economic, and social structural changes are necessary for Nahuatl to survive.
I hope that as you explore this website, you come to a deeper understanding of the structures in place that keep villages like Amatlán in poverty and see a way forward for the truly wonderful people who live there.
While I was in Amatlán, I taught English to kindergartners, elementary, and high school students while conducting a research project about Nahuatl, the indigenous language spoken by the Nahua who live in Amatlán. The village is going through a time of social, cultural, and economic change, and the way people communicate is changing as a result.
Indigenous culture is often lost in the balance as Mexico’s economy becomes more urban and industrial. The Nahua of the Huasteca are no exception to this erosion of indigenous culture. The youth of Amatlán are losing their ability to speak Nahuatl. I interviewed children, teenagers, and young adults to examine the languages they spoke, their opinions about the loss of Nahuatl, and how they identified themselves in relation to their linguistic abilities and preferences.
Based on this research, there is evidence that as the young people speak Nahuatl less often, they identify as “Nahua” or “indigenous” less often. This is interesting because almost all of the informants said that Nahuatl is important and they want it to survive. Despite the efforts of educational and governmental institutions to ignite interest in Nahuatl, it is unlikely that this trend will reverse. Larger political, economic, and social structural changes are necessary for Nahuatl to survive.
I hope that as you explore this website, you come to a deeper understanding of the structures in place that keep villages like Amatlán in poverty and see a way forward for the truly wonderful people who live there.