Tonantzin: The Boston Committee to Support the Native Peoples of Mexico was founded in January, 1994, in response to the armed uprising of indigenous peoples in Chiapas, Mexico. Tonantzin grew out of a press conference supported by 17 local organizations calling for a peaceful resolution to the conflict and respect for human rights in Mexico. Since then, Tonantzin has organized several educational and advocacy events each year, featuring human rights activists from Mexico, local experts and documentary footage from Chiapas. We have pressured Mexcian authorites to respect human rights and demilitarize Chiapas. We have also raised funds for emergency aid and human rights work in Chiapas. Our members have been interviewed by the local press and have travelled to Chiapas to gather information, visit indigenous communities and meet with organizations.

Tonantzin’s events have educated the Boston area public about policital, military, economic and human rights developments in Chiapas and other parts of Mexico. Events and campaigns have focused on how the EZLN uprising and the subsequent militarization of the state have affected indigenous peasants and how these communities are resisting a Mexican Federal Army occupation and organizing autonomous local governments. Through these events Tonantzin has involved people in pressuring Mexican and U.S. government officials to demilitarize Chiapas and respect the indigenous communities’ demands.

Tonantzin works closely with Mexican and U.S. organizations that support indigenous peoples’ struggles in Mexico. Our Chiapas contacts include the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center (a Church-based organization), Enlace Civil (a non-governmental organization that supports community projects in the Chiapas conflict zone) and the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas.

We have worked regularly with local organizations to organize events and letter-writing campaigns. These organizations include: Grassroots International, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), United American Indians of New England, Community Church of Boston, Cultural Survival, Equal Exchange, Jobs with Justice, the National Lawyers Guild, Physicians for Human Rights, Boston Global Action Network and The Latin America Action Coalition.

Tonantzin is a member of the Mexico Solidarity Network (MSN), a national coaltion of about 90 organizations that builds links between civil society on both sides of the border in a serach for alternatives to captial-centered globalizations. The Network supports struggles for democracy, dignity and human rights in Mexico. Tonantzin has also worked closely with other national organizations such as School of the Americas Watch, Pastors for Peace and the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico.

Tonantzin (Our Lady) was the virgin mother of the Mexica and Aztecs. She is sometimes referred to as Coatlicue (who is also a goddess of Aztec cosmology). There are those who firmly believe that the Catholic Virgin of Guadalupe (patron saint of Mexico) is the syncretic manifestation of Nuestra Señora de Tonantzin, and that the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico was built over the temple to Tonantzin.

Regardless of individual beliefs about the origin of the name and what other things she may represent, Tonantzin is mother of the land and goddess of renewal, the giver of life and death. We believe the name Tonantzin highlights the central element of the struggle of the indigenous peoples of Mexico, the struggle for the land. By making reference to the Nahuatl language (of the Aztecs), Tonantzin Boston does not intend to offend or exclude the other linguistic and indigenous groups of Mexico.>

Read some articles relating to events we have sponsored in the past or about our role in supporting the Indigenous peoples of Mexico:

• Indigenous Women in Chiapas Claim their Rights, by Erika Jones (published in Soujourner, the Women's Forum, August 1999).
• Organizaciones de EU que trabajan sobre chiapas, an article in Spanish (published in La Jornada, August 1998).

If you are interested in participating, you may:

1. Attend our monthly meetings (email us for more info)
2. Participate in our events (check out our calendar)
3. Join our mailing list, which you can do by signing up at our events or by emailing/mailing us
4. Donate money ... And if you're interested in donating money, please make a check out to Tonantzin and send it to our address below. There's no donation too small!

Tonantzin
PO Box 1074
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 629-2449