The Indigenous World 2025: Mexico

Written on 25 April 2025. Posted in Mexico

According to data from the Census of Population and Housing 2020 of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), there are 126,014,024 people living in Mexico, of whom 23.2 million aged three years and above self-identify as Indigenous.^[1]

These data reflect a downward trend in the number of speakers of an Indigenous language, with 7,345,645 people aged three years and above now reporting that they speak an Indigenous language. However, 87.2% of this population also speaks Spanish, while 11.8% is monolingual.

The country has 68 native languages, with Nahuatl remaining the most widely spoken (22.4%), followed by Mayan (10.5%) and Tseltal (8.0%). The languages with the lowest percentages are Totonac (3.5%), Ch'ol (3.5%) and Mazatec (3.2%).

Mexicans between 15 and 29 years of age are identified as young people. In terms of education, the population speaking an Indigenous language aged 15 years and above completes the equivalent of primary school. In this same age range, illiteracy is drastically higher, with a rate of 20.9% compared to those who do not speak a native language.

According to official figures, 60.5% of the Indigenous population start working at the age of 12.^[2] During the first quarter of 2024, INEGI recorded 31,000,000 people between 15 and 29 years of age, representing 23.8% of the total population.

Despite INEGI's most recent update on the status of young people in Mexico, as of 2020, 25.6% of citizens who self-identified as Indigenous (23.2 million people) were between the ages of 15 and 29.^[3] This demonstrates a lack of disaggregated data on the status of this sector, either by state or by Indigenous region.

Mexico voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007 and has signed ILO Convention 169. At the national level, Article 2 of the Constitution recognizes and guarantees the right of Indigenous Peoples and Communities to self-determination and autonomy.^[4]

This article is part of the 39^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here

EZLN: 30 years on

1 January 2024 marked the 30^th anniversary of the armed uprising of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) in the state of Chiapas, by which they made known the Declaration of the Lacandona Jungle to the world, a document in which they set out the reasons for their struggle.^[5]

As a result of the negotiations between the EZLN, the Commission for Concord and Pacification, the National Intermediation Commission and the Mexican State, the San Andrés Larraínzar Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture were signed in 1996. These Accords demanded, among other things, that the Federal Government recognize Indigenous Peoples in the Constitution, broaden their political representation, guarantee access to justice and promote cultural events. In addition, they established the need to ensure education and training, fulfilment of Indigenous Peoples’ basic needs, the promotion and production of employment and the protection of Indigenous migrants.

Although the Accords consolidated the historic demands of the country's Indigenous Peoples, there was a failure to implement them, attributed to a lack of political will and also to legal technicalities, as the Federation considered that they contravened the Constitution. This prompted both the EZLN and the Mexican government to present counterproposals that neither side accepted.^[6]

In 1999, the Zapatista movement promoted a national consultation to legitimize the Accords, drawing its inspiration from ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples,^[7] and in which more than 3.5 million people participated. However, to date, the San Andrés Accords have not been fulfilled and the political and economic pressure on the lands and territories of the Zapatista communities continues, including through the presence of organized crime and extractivist projects.

Rights of Mexico's Indigenous Peoples and Communities

In September 2024, the Federal Legislative Branch approved a reform to the second article of the Mexican Constitution, with 492 votes in favour. This reform recognizes the country's Indigenous Peoples and Communities as subjects of public law, endowing them with legal personality and their own assets. In addition, the reform addresses aspects such as the development of traditional medicine and midwifery care during pregnancy, childbirth and infancy, and the recognition of health practices and the knowledge of those who practise them.

It also establishes that they shall be subject to administrative or legislative consultations, as the case may be, and that their languages, cultures and identity must be preserved, protected, disseminated and studied. In the meantime, their members must be assisted and advised, from a gender-sensitive perspective, through interpreters, translators and experts specialized in Indigenous rights and legal pluralism, as well as linguistic and cultural diversity. Intercultural and multilingual education is also guaranteed at all levels, through programmes that promote their cultural heritage, free from discrimination and racism.^[8]

Reform and omissions

In studies on the subject, analysts and human rights centres pointed out various aspects that could help to improve the reform, especially in the context of the historic demands of the Indigenous communities, such as endowing them with true autonomy and legal personality. These demands remain subordinate to the constitutional framework, however, which upholds the “unity of the country”, and which has been seen as continuing a sense of subordination to the Mexican State. They also indicated that the reform was not clear and should have amended the requirement to be subjects of public law.^[9]

According to the amendments, Indigenous Peoples’ self-determination has to be viewed in the light of the normative systems of the Constitution, which nonetheless details social, cultural and, especially, political and economic aspects from a very particular viewpoint. Another of the specific observations was in the area of finances since they are unable to freely exercise control over economic resources on the basis of budget lines and therefore remain under the tutelage of the different levels of government.^[10]

At the same time, experts stressed that the amendments prevent Indigenous Peoples from making decisions over their territories and natural resources. Although the reform recognizes that the communities are settled in a territorial area, it does not guarantee that they will be able to resolve conflicts in accordance with their own particular interests, habits and customs. In other words, it makes it impossible for them to defend themselves from the entry of extractivist projects or transnational companies, such as mining companies, that remove their natural resources via granted concessions. In the same way, the right to consultations is established, and this applies when they are of a legislative or administrative nature; however, it does not guarantee that they are carried out when the environment or the territory is affected.

An exhaustive analysis of other articles of the Constitution was also recommended, such as Article 127, as well as operational and economic resource laws, in order to ensure that Indigenous Peoples are granted true rights to political, social, financial self-determination and decision-making over their territories, together with natural resources.^[11] Finally, although the reform was necessary, it has come late and raises doubts that truly profound change will be promoted by the Mexican State in order to implement it.^[12]

Education, a pending issue 

Although access to education in Mexico is guaranteed in the third article of the Constitution, in reality, young people living in Indigenous communities are the one group that most lags behind in this area. This was identified by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy in the 2024 Diagnostic Study on the Right to Education.

According to the study, there are 52.1 million children, adolescents and young people of school age in the country, pre-school, primary, middle school, high school and higher education included. Of this figure, 4.7% (2.2 million people between the ages of three and 24) claimed to be Indigenous language speakers. The same study indicates that 95.7% of children who speak an Indigenous language between the ages of 6 and 11 have primary education; 77.4% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 14 are in secondary school; 44% of young people between the ages of 15 and 17 attend high school, and only 9.4% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 years attend university. This document also points out that the average schooling for Indigenous language speakers is 6.3 years, that 46.4% do not complete basic education, and that only a small percentage reach the upper secondary and higher education levels.^[13]

In light of this situation, through its University Programme of Studies of Cultural Diversity and Interculturality (PUIC-UNAM) and its Scholarship System for Students Belonging to Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples (SBEIA),^[14] the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) supports high school and university students with scholarships to aid their studies. It also promotes academic and cultural activities that strengthen their professional training and identity processes.

In this context, during the August-December 2024 semester, 1,040 students who were enrolled at UNAM were benefiting from this scholarship, of which 608 were women and 432 men. In the case of university education, scholarships are most commonly awarded to students in the fields of medical surgery, law, instrumentation, psychology, accounting, economics, civil engineering, architecture, nursing, administration, dental surgery, and international relations.

Although access to this support for middle and higher education students who benefit from SBEIA is a visible achievement for students from at least 38 Indigenous Peoples, there is still a need to include young people from the remaining 30 of Mexico's 68 Indigenous Peoples. Of those enrolled at UNAM, the largest numbers come from the Nahua, Mixtec, Zapotec, Otomi, Mixe, Mazahua, Totonaca, Mazatec, Triqui, Amuzgo and Peninsular Maya peoples.

When analysing the data by ethnic affiliation and disaggregating by men and women, it is notable that the presence of men continues to be greater than that of women among some Indigenous Peoples, although the differences in the figures are not large. These include the Zapotecs, Tlapanecos, Triquis, Peninsular Maya, Chinantecs, Choles and Zoques. In addition, the scholarship recipients come from different states of the country; a total of 23 are registered, with Oaxaca being one of the most common places of origin.

It is worth highlighting the efforts of the Indigenous youth in achieving their professional training, in addition to the awards and recognitions they have obtained for their academic work. In 2024, 17 students received a distinction: three for academic achievement and five for winning competitions.

For the first semester of 2025, this UNAM system was providing scholarships to 1,040 students, 589 women and 451 men, corresponding to 37 Indigenous Peoples and Communities in the country. In this regard, 966 were at university level and 74 at high school level, from a total of 44 UNAM-sponsored establishments.

This shows that, despite the current living conditions, marginalization, low social development and poverty faced by the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico, the student sector of the young population is building a future through vocational training and higher secondary education.

As can be seen, the challenge for universities, the different levels of government and society as a whole is to contribute so that more and more young people from the 68 Indigenous Peoples of the country can crystallize these achievements through education.

Carolina Sánchez García is Director of the University Programme of Studies of Cultural Diversity and Interculturality at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (PUIC-UNAM).

Juan Mario Pérez Martínez is Technical Secretary of PUIC-UNAM.

This article is part of the 39^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here

Notes and references

^[1] National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). (2022). Principales resultados del Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.

https://www.inegi.org.mx/contenidos/productos/prod_serv/contenidos/espanol/bvinegi/productos/nueva_estruc/702825198060.pdf.

^[2] National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). (2022). Estadísticas a propósito del Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas.

https://www.inegi.org.mx/contenidos/saladeprensa/aproposito/2022/EAP_PueblosInd22.pdf

^[3] Mexico City Human Rights Commission. (09 August 2023). Necesario fortalecer el papel de las personas indígenas jóvenes como agentes de cambio.

 https://cdhcm.org.mx/2023/08/necesario-fortalecer-el-papel-de-las-personas-indigenas-jovenes-como-agentes-de-cambio/#:~:text=En%20el%20pa%C3%ADs%2C%20de%20acuerdo,es%20decir%20es%20poblaci%C3%B3n%20joven.

^[4] Political Constitution of Mexico. Article 2 of the Mexican Nation. https://www.constitucionpolitica.mx/titulo-1-garantias-individuales/capitulo-1-derechos-humanos/articulo-2-nacion-mexicana

^[5] National Autonomous University of Mexico. UNESCO Chair in Human Rights. Declaraciones de la Selva Lacandona. EZLN. Compiled by Humberto Escobedo Cetina.

https://catedraunescodh.unam.mx/catedra/ocpi/documentos/docs/6/08.pdf

^[6] National Autonomous University of Mexico. Institute for Legal Research. “Los Acuerdos de San Andrés Larraínzar en el contexto de la Declaración de los Derechos de los Pueblos Americanos”. In Análisis interdisciplinario de la Declaración Americana de los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas. X Jornadas Lascasianas. https://archivos.juridicas.unam.mx/www/bjv/libros/1/1/12.pdf

^[7] International Labour Organization. (2014). ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

https://www.ilo.org/publications/c169-indigenous-and-tribal-peoples-convention-1989

^[8] Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. 17 January 2025. https://www.scjn.gob.mx/sites/default/files/cpeum/documento/cpeum.pdf

^[9] Desinformémonos. (12 September 2024). Reforma indígena y afromexicana deliberadamente deja fuera elementos fundamentales, advierten organizaciones.

https://desinformemonos.org/reforma-indigena-y-afromexicana-deliberadamente-deja-fuera-elementos-fundamentales-advierten-organizaciones/

^[10] Fundar. Center for Analysis and Research. (12 November 2024). Los pueblos como sujeto de derecho público: significados para la construcción de un Estado pluricultural.

https://fundar.org.mx/los-pueblos-como-sujeto-de-derecho-publico/

^[11] La Coperacha. (07 February 2024). Mutilada la iniciativa de reforma para los Pueblos Indígenas: Francisco López Bárcenas.

https://lacoperacha.org.mx/mutilada-iniciativa-reforma-pueblos-indigenas-francisco-lopez-barcenas-2024/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEnCO9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbaxllnTbrAm0yVHGyfRA348nkmolWbiRAR5i5XNUzcXY6L2xmucbIiTpg_aem_k8tB2WuGWt6Qf9Rjp_7AdA

^[12] Cruz Rueda, Elisa. “La reforma constitucional ¿reconocimiento simbólico?” Servindi, 04 October 2024. https://www.servindi.org/actualidad-noticias/03/10/2024/un-reconocimiento-simbolico-la-reforma-constitucional-sobre-los

^[13] National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy. Estudio Diagnóstico del Derecho a la Educación 2024. CONEVAL, 2024. https://www.coneval.org.mx/EvaluacionDS/PP/CEIPP/IEPSM/Documents/Derechos_Sociales_2024/EDDE_2024_IF.pdf

^[14] National Autonomous University of Mexico. University Programme for the Study of Cultural Diversity and Interculturality. Informe de actividades 2024.

Tags: Business and Human Rights , Human rights, Cultural Integrity