Tutunaku women teachers from the Centre for Indigenous Arts strengthen their economic autonomy in Papantla, with UNESCO and Tala México

To strengthen and diversify opportunities for the autonomous economic sustainability of the CAI's pedagogical processes and activities, UNESCO is undertaking a project -with support from Tala Mexico- so that the women teachers and bearers of Totonac living heritage can build tools to reinforce the safeguarding of their cultural systems, develop a cultural and financial economy, foster a sustainable creative vision, and protect gender equity, since it is young and adult women who typically sustain the processes of managing and transmitting their heritage.

The first phase of implementation brings together teachers from six of the CAI's 15 House-Schools:

• Pu makaskujni xla lhtamananin li tutunaku , or School-House of Traditional Totonac Pottery,

• Ix chik litlawat tawá , or House of Traditional Totonac Cuisine,

• Pulakgatayan , or School-House of Community Tourism,

• Pumánin , or House of Painting,

• Ix chik Latamat Panamak , or School-House of the World of Cotton, and

• Ix chik' kan Tlagnanin , or School-House of Music.

The participants will build a roadmap with organizational actions and short- and long-term business plans, linked to a framework of community-based tourism experiences designed to decentralize and diversify the CAI's economic opportunities throughout the year. In doing so, they will contribute to its continuity-not only in their cachiquín (village) in Papantla, but also in the communities to which the participating artisan and traditional cook teachers belong.