Mazahua women prepared an elaborate and traditional meal inside of the Casa de la Cultura Mazahua in Crescencio Morales.
Photographer: Angie Smith for Bloomberg Businessweek
This Quiet Mexican Paradise Offers New Reasons to Fly South
The butterfly migration hub of Michoacán plans its next act around food and art
Lucila Marín García hunches over an old Singer sewing machine in her home on the outskirts of Crescencio Morales, a village in the Mexican state of Michoacán. Her daughter and niece sit next to her, hand-embroidering traditional sashes using a fine cross-stitch called the lomillo. The technique belongs to García’s Indigenous Mazahua community, whose roots here stretch to the 12th century.
The Day of the Dead, a Mexican festival honoring the deceased, is two weeks away, and the Garcías, along with three other families, are responsible for making the traditional costumes — shawls, skirts, sashes — for the 8,000-some people in town. One outfit takes about three hours.