On October 8 and 9, HERITΛGE held the in-person Oral History and Heritage workshop at the Museo Estatal de Culturas Populares de Nuevo León. The workshop – part of our HerMaP Mexico initiative – provided a space for learning and exchange focused on the use of oral history to document, preserve, and transmit cultural heritage and community memory. The program combined methodological tools, ethical considerations, and practical exercises applied to heritage projects.

The workshop brought together a group of eight participants working with Indigenous communities and cultural heritage projects, bringing diverse experiences and perspectives and representing at least five Indigenous peoples residing in Nuevo León. This exchange provided an opportunity to reflect on oral history not only as a documentation methodology, but also as a tool for strengthening the transmission of memories, knowledge, and living cultural practices.

We were joined by guest facilitator Dr. Claudia Uribe Chinen, a Peruvian archaeologist specializing in heritage studies, public archaeology, heritage ethics, and community participation, HERITΛGE exalumna. Claudia also presented a case study from Peru, bringing an international perspective to the workshop and creating connections with the experiences shared by participants in Mexico.

We were also joined by Diana Laura Lozano Linares and David Maldonado Pérez, members of CEMPO in Ciudad Juárez, who had previously participated in HERITΛGE’s in-person Oral History and Heritage workshop in Chihuahua in March 2026. In Monterrey, they shared their experience working with Indigenous peoples residing in Ciudad Juárez during a conversation focused on resident and migrant Indigenous communities in Chihuahua, bringing an important border perspective to the dialogue around memory, identity, and living heritage.

The quality of the work presented and the potential of the initiatives led by this group highlighted the opportunities to continue developing oral history projects from and with communities themselves, while strengthening networks among those working to safeguard living heritage across northern Mexico.