10 CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF THE NAHUATL CULTURE - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Some of the most outstanding customs and traditions of the Nahuatl culture are its curious ceremonies, painting, crafts, education, and rituals, among others. The Nahuatl culture comes from a group of native peoples of Mesoamerica.

In their origins they lived in different states of Mexico, currently the small populations spread throughout the country and in recent years, they have appeared in cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Houston. The largest community is located on the Rio Balsas.

This culture has had a great impact on Mexican culture. Well-known foods such as chocolate, tortillas, and tacos were produced and consumed by the Nahuatl long before Columbus "discovered" America.

The Nahuatl language and its cultural knowledge of plants, animals, mountains, rivers and the universe have been preserved through oral transmission from adults to children.

To this day, their customs and traditions persist in the existing indigenous communities. Their language is spoken by almost 1.2 million Mexicans.

Its economy is based on the exchange of products through markets where all kinds of goods are sold.

They are held once or twice a week to stock up on groceries, here they also sell their crops and their handicraft products such as hand-embroidered blouses, weaving objects, clay objects, embroidered napkins, etc.

The Nahuatl language and culture continue to be very important for the cultures and life of non-indigenous populations, but they are in serious danger of extinction due to globalization, hence the importance of their value being recognized and measures taken to its conservation and study.

10 customs and traditions of the Nahuatl

1- Traditional houses

The traditional house of the Nahuatl culture consists of one or two rooms and a large solar, it is rectangular in shape and is built with wooden beams.

In each house there is an altar. In areas where the climate is colder they have walls made of reeds and branches covered with mud.

They have farm animals and mainly harvest corn and beans. Also, where possible, they grow tomatoes, melon, avocado and chili.

2- Ceremonies

The religious specialist is the shaman, who is the person of knowledge, he can be both male and female. Ceremonies that are linked to the Catholic liturgical calendar are usually held.

A ritual is performed on the winter solstice, ceremonies for the sowing of the harvest, in carnival at the beginning of spring and on the Day of the Dead in autumn.

Other types of ceremonies are rituals destined to cure diseases, invoke the rain or to stop it, pilgrimages to sacred places, purification of newborn children, blessing houses, performing divinations and funerals.

3- Nahuatl painting and crafts

The nahual represented in the Codex Borgia.

Nahuatl painting is considered one of the best known popular painting styles in Mexico. You can find scenes that narrate the celebrations of the community, their religious beliefs and daily activities.

These paintings can be found made on amate paper, ceramics or wooden figures. The ceramic pieces are painted with bright colors, figures of fantasy animals, unreal human beings and lots of flowers and different geometric shapes.

They make household utensils: mats, wooden stools, benches, oil burners, metals, pots, pans. As well as hand-embroidered fabrics.

4- Natural medicine

They use herbs and medicinal plants to treat the symptoms of diseases, to perform massages and to assist in childbirth, all this accompanied by healing rituals performed by shamans.

This type of traditional medicine is seen as a natural and cheaper alternative to expensive pharmaceutical products. In case of serious illnesses they can go to a clinic to be treated by a medical specialist.

5- The rite of death

They believe in the existence of the soul and that its destiny after death is defined according to its circumstances.

They believe that a person who dies prematurely becomes a spirit of the wind that causes disease. Those who die from some cause related to water believe that they are going to some kind of aquatic paradise.

They do not believe that after death the soul has one destiny or another depending on its behavior, they do not believe in reward or punishment.

6- Work in community work

They are obliged to carry out work without receiving any kind of payment, with the sole purpose of helping the works of the community.

Tequio, which means work in the Nahuatl language, is the responsibility of the people who enjoy the greatest respect within the community, these are also the people in charge of imposing sanctions on those who do not obey.

7- The party (mitohtli)

It is about a few days to integrate into the community, rest and celebrate the joy that is life. However, they are not made just to enjoy.

The fact of integrating into the community makes this society very strong, avoiding envy and competition between brothers of the same.

8- Singleness and widowhood are not well seen

Their beliefs indicate that every man and every woman needs a partner or a partner and when a couple dies they believe that it is necessary to find a new company.

Women within the community are considered equal in terms of rights and obligations.

9- Very broad family concept

They have the concept of the very extensive family since it is not only limited to the family nucleus, but also extends to grandparents, great-great-grandparents and even the children of other couples are considered siblings and not half-siblings.

However, infidelity in the couple is punished, forcing the man to take care of the children who are not his partner.

Friendship is very important, since they consider that sharing experiences makes suffering more bearable.

10- Compulsory education

This is another extremely important issue for the communities, all children are obliged to attend school, since it is there that they consider that the hearts and minds of the members of the communities are formed.

They also believe that the child needs to be with other children, that they must know what responsibility is from a young age and for this they have to help with housework.

For them, it is very necessary to talk a lot with their grandparents, since they are in charge of transmitting their knowledge to them.

References

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5. (sf). Traditional Nahuatl greetings. Retrieved on 02 of 05 of 2017, from mexicolore.co.uk.
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