Mexican Indigenous
A woman and a girl from the Tarahumara ethnic group walk along a sidewalk in Ciudad Juarez March 7, 2013. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

When asked about Mexico, most people can carry conversations about the country’s economy, immigrants, and touristic destinations such as Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, and The Riviera Maya.

But what most people don’t know is that deep within big cities like Mexico City, Puebla, Monterrey, and Guadalajara, there are numerous indigenous communities that were driven to the mountains from their nomadic plains by the Spanish 500 years ago.

Photographer Diego Huerta has taken on the task to travel all over Aztec grounds, and with his camera, has managed to expose the beauty behind these populations that are often forgotten.

“It’s not about the time I spend with them, it’s about the quality of the conversations that we have,” Huerta told BBC. “I think we all like when people show interest in us, and that’s what I do. I would like to think that they are able to see the sincerity behind my actions through my eyes, and the respect and admiration that I have for them. I think that’s what allows me to have some sort of intimacy level with them.”

Huerta, who currently resides in Austin, Texas, has been welcomed by the Raramuris, Wirrarikas, Zoques, Zapotecos, Chichimecas and Mazatecos, which are just a few of the different native towns you can come across when traveling to the south of Mexico.

“I still have 50 more native towns to visit,” the traveling aficionado told the publication.

Born and raised in Mexico, Huerta points out that traveling is the core to his life balance and helps him make sense of the path he is on. “I love meeting people, they make my life richer and open my eyes to the world around me,” his professional bio reads.

“Sometimes you need to cross mountains, and lakes, walk day and night,” he wrote on Instagram about a photo he took on Pátzcuaro. “There are times that you spend all of your energy for one portrait. But at the end of the day, everything’s worth it.”

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