Santiago Ixcuintla
Santiago de Ixcuintla is a town in the western Mexican state of Nayarit.
The word Ixcuintla comes from the Nahuatl word ‘Itzcuintlan’ meaning dog and ‘tlan’, meaning "place of many dogs". The reason of the name is due to the region ‘Ixcuintle’ dog breeding tradition. The people of Santiago called the city in honour of the apostle Santiago, symbol of evangelization on cults and religious beliefs of prehispanic groups.
Several hundred Huichol families migrate seasonally (mostly during winter months: Dec.–May) from their Sierra Madre high-country homeland to work for a few dollars a day in the local tobacco fields. In the mountains, the Huichol People have retained their customs tenaciously against ‘Mexicanization’.
