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= Mexicaneros = The Nahuatl people of Durango and Nayarit, Mexico, are known as Mexicaneros. They are one of the 62 original cultures of Mexico and they speak the Mexicanero language, one of the Nahualt dialects. The Mexicaneros are a small group of several hundred people. They live in a remote region in the Western Sierra Madre Mountains, along the border of Durango and Nayarit, Mexico. Currently, three Mexicanero communities exist: Santa Cruz in Nayarit, San Agustín de San Buenaventura, and San Pedro Jícoras in southern Durango.

The word "Mexicanero" is composed of the root word "Mexican" and its derivational suffix "ero". The root word corresponds to the word "Meshikan" (the 'x' is pronounced as the 'sh' sound), the word that people use to refer to there native language. Mexicaneros share the cult of the deer with Huichols or Wirarika, present in some ceremonies. Deers are sacred animals to this indigenous group. They are besieged by the hunters. When they hunt, some Mexicaneros use inherited techniques such as bows and arrows, traps made with maguey fiber, or ixtle, known as a plant fiber used for nets.

The Nahuah language is spoken by the Mexicanero people of Southern Durango and Northern Nayarit. It has around 1,000 speakers in remote towns of San Pedro Jicora and San Juan Buenaventura in the Mezquital municipality, Durango, where they coexist with the speakers of Tepehuan, and some other 300 speakers in the Acaponeta municipality of Nayarit. Mexicanero is one of the peripheral Nahuatl dialects, that uses the "-lo" suffix to express plurality of the subject, due to the loss of certain syllables acquired from the phonemic stress.

Mexicaneros belong to the municipality of Mezquial, which borders along the north with Durango and the city Nombre de dios, Durango. To the northwest, is the municipality of Suchil, to the southeast is the puebla nuevo, and all of the cities lie within the state of Durango, in Mexico. The indigenous group are also found in the states of Nayarit, Zacatecas, and Jalisco.

The region is characterized by a rugged and stony terrain. The landscape is semi-desert with many cacti, chalates, mezquites, magueyes, nopales, and pitayas. It rains between the months of June through October and the average temperature is usually 22 degree Celsius. The indigenous people plant oranges, fig trees, watermelons, papaya, sugar cane. They also grow corn, beans, and squash fields. They also tend to live among many animals such as, wild cats, coyotes, eagles, and vultures. There are also many scorpions and edible animals such as squirrels, rabbits, badgers, and iguanas. They grow several different crops and raise livestock. Their staple diet consists of corn, squash, and amaranth. Mexicaneros have incorporated various elements of Catholicism into their religion. Although, they have retained the pre-Columbian worship practices that regards the sun and moon, Venus, and the eagle and deer.

In the region, there are no roads and the communities are connected by gaps. The telephone lines, schools, health clinics, and indigenous shelters are located in the most important commercial areas such as the mountains, Llano Grande, and the semi-desert zone, known as Huazamota. They lack electicity and have no drinking water.