The state government of Morelos has launched a new campaign aimed at reviving and protecting Indigenous languages, with a focus on strengthening use of Nahuatl, Mixtec, and other native tongues across classrooms, community centers, and public events.
The program, announced on August 6 by the state’s Secretariat of Education and the Indigenous Peoples Directorate, is part of a broader initiative to safeguard cultural identity and linguistic diversity, which officials say is rapidly disappearing in central Mexico.
“This is not just about language. It’s about memory, resistance, and the right to preserve our identity,” said Xóchitl Ramírez, director of the campaign.
Education and visibility at the center
The campaign will introduce new curriculum materials, train bilingual educators, and host public language workshops in municipalities with significant Indigenous populations, including Tepoztlán, Tetela del Volcán, and Ocuituco.
At least 50 primary schools will participate in the pilot program, which includes Nahuatl immersion sessions, storybook translation exercises, and intergenerational storytelling events where elders will teach younger generations traditional vocabulary and oral history.
Officials also announced that local government signage, cultural programming, and museum exhibits will begin featuring Indigenous languages alongside Spanish—aiming to normalize and elevate their public use.
A race against time
Linguists and anthropologists have warned that Mexico’s Indigenous languages are vanishing at an alarming rate, with younger generations increasingly abandoning them in favor of Spanish or English.
According to data from the National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI), Mexico is home to 68 national languages and over 350 linguistic variants, but many are spoken by fewer than 1,000 people.
In Morelos, Nahuatl is the most widely spoken Indigenous language, but even it is at risk. Fewer than 20,000 speakers remain statewide, and many are over the age of 50.
“This is a crisis of continuity,” said one educator in Yautepec. “If we don’t act now, we lose something irreplaceable.”
Support from Indigenous leaders
The campaign has been shaped in consultation with Indigenous community leaders, who helped define priority languages and cultural protocols for curriculum development.
Many of these leaders stressed the importance of self-determination, insisting that revitalization efforts be community-led rather than imposed from the outside.
“We don’t want tokenism,” said Don Isidro Sánchez, a Nahuatl speaker from Hueyapan. “We want respect, resources, and recognition.”
As part of the initiative, local artists and elders will be hired as language consultants, helping translate songs, poems, and stories into written materials that will be used in schools and shared publicly.
Federal collaboration and future goals
The Morelos government says it hopes the campaign will become a model for other states and is seeking funding from federal cultural and education agencies to expand the program.
Eventually, officials hope to develop a state-run Indigenous language media outlet, including radio programming and podcasts, as well as digital archives of oral history recordings.
“The goal is not just preservation—it’s revitalization,” said Ramírez. “We want these languages to be spoken, sung, and celebrated.”
Broader national context
The campaign in Morelos aligns with growing national efforts to protect Mexico’s Indigenous heritage. Earlier this year, President Sheinbaum’s administration pledged to increase federal funding for Indigenous education and proposed constitutional protections for cultural rights.
But critics argue that decades of neglect won’t be reversed overnight. They point to the chronic underfunding of Indigenous schools, lack of teacher training, and ongoing racism toward Indigenous communities.
Still, initiatives like the one in Morelos offer hope that grassroots collaboration and political will can begin to turn the tide.
For children like 9-year-old Yaretzi from Tepoztlán, who recently started learning Nahuatl with her grandmother, the impact is already real.
“I want to talk like my abuela,” she said. “So people know where I come from.”
