Touristic Sites
Huasteca Culture Museum

The Museo de la Cultura Huasteca (Huasteca Culture Museum) is situated inside the installations of the METRO, is an area that secures the regional identity with a relevant archaeological and ethnological collection. It is part of the group of museums of the National Institute of Anthropology and History.  Its collection of around 3000 pieces is based in a group of cultural manifestations of the region, corresponding to the indigenous communities of the Teneek culture, which developed in the states of Hidalgo, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas and Veracruz, which conform La Huasteca.

The exhibit is this museum through its 12 areas is the development of the Huasteca Culture or Teneek from concepts like: Men, nature, religion, daily life and mythology linking the archeological with the ethnographic pieces.

The first exhibit presents the Huasteca as a geographical region and a cultural entity setting its boundaries to the north by the Soto La Marina River, to the east by the Gulf of Mexico to the south by the Cazones River and to the west by the skirts of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range, showing the states where this culture has extended and whose inhabitants have inherited by the Teneek, Nahuas, Pames, Otomies and Tepehuas ethnic groups as well as by some immigrants from other countries that arrived after the Spanish conquest. The 2nd exhibit is called “Life and Fertility” and shows the Huasteca religion from a particular viewpoint of the fertility cult with three main aspects: Birth, death and rebirth.“Art” is the name for the 3rd exhibit and shows the great ability of the Huastecan artisans and has great quality aesthetical pieces made of ceramic, stone, shells and bones. The 4th exhibit will allow you to see the reconstruction of a burial found intact with its offerings on a settlement of the colonia Tierra Alta of Tampico proof of the belief of the ancient Huastecans of life after death and the importance given to the offerings as help to reach the other world.

The 5th exhibit gives us the idea of a belief from this culture on the origins of the world, men and the way the cosmos or universe is structured, a cosmo vision. “Daily Life” is the name for the 6th exhibit, there an original Huasteca house with its walls made of wood and palm roofs as well as ceramic artifacts and metal utensils used in its homes. The 7th exhibit “Body and Adornment” shows the corporal adornments and dresses made from diverse materials by the Huastecans, the Nahuas and the Teneek. “Work” or the 8th exhibit shows the diverse activities of the daily life of the Huastecans like the agriculture, hunting, fishing, manufacturing and textile works.

The 9th exhibit shows some of the products that the Huastecans imported or exported through trade of merchandises with other tribes allowing them to enrich their economy and culture. The 10th exhibit, a.k.a. “Sacred Space” shows the architecture, urban organization and social structure of this culture, a reconstruction of an altar found in the city of Tahomi.Dedicated to the mythology and oral tradition, the exhibit 11th is a rest and reflexion space where a documentary on the Huastecan myths is shown.

The tour of the museum ends at the 12th exhibit, called the “Huastecan Patrimony” and shows the fundamental aspects of the Huasteca Culture still present today in the music, dance, cuisine and rites.

Metropolitan Park

METRO

Metropolix