Zapatista Army of Mazahua Women in Defence of Water in the Cutzamala Region: Testimonies1

The following testimonies were given on September 8th, 2010 to the First Symposium of Indigenous Women leading the struggle for the resources and territory control held by the Gender Studies Universitary Program (Programa Universitario de Estudios de Género, PUEG). Agustina Araujo, Guadalupe Acevedo, Ofelia Lorenzo and Irma Romero are Comandantas (Comandantas: the female commanders) Zapatista Army of Mazahuas (the mazahuas are an indigenous people of Mexico, inhabiting the northwestern portion of the State of Mexico and the northeastern area of Michoacán, with a presence in the Federal District as well. The word mazahua is of náhuatl origin meaning ‘the owners of deer’, ‘the deer men’. They refer to themselves as Hñatho. The mazahua subsist mainly on the agriculture of maize, squash and beans, and they also produce wool and wooden handicrafts. The Mazahua language belongs to the Otomian branch of the Oto-Manguean languages.) and representatives of the Mazahua Sustainable Development Front of Cutzamala (Cutzamala de Pinzón (náhuatl: cotzamálotl, ‘the weasel place’) is a city and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It is located in the far northwestern part of the state, on the border with Michoacán.). During the testimonies, a video was shown of the struggles; after the women spoke, there were questions and answers.