Tequio
In Mexico, the task or collective work that each person owes to their indigenous community is known as tequio. Since it is done for the benefit of the community itself, it is not paid work. Tequio is a custom which various indigenous communities throughout Mexico continue to practice to varying degrees and in different ways. Similar concepts to tequio are minka in several South America countries and hacendera in Spain. Etymology and Synonyms In his work "Aquí comienca (sic) un vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana" (Vocabulary in Castilian and Mexican language) Friar Alonso de Molina translated the Nahuatl words tequitl as tribute and tequitiliztli as work. He documented two variants of tequio, which does not require phonetic adaptation to Castilian: tequiutl which has been adapted as tequiuh by losing its final consonantal tl. It is defined as a work or tribute. Father Ángel María Garibay in his Llave del Náhuatl tells us that the verb tequi or tequiotl means "work" or "feeling tired". "Dictionary of nahuatl in the Spanish of Mexico" defines the word tequitl as "work" or "tribute", the same definition is given in Diccionario de la Lengua Española online. This form of contribution or contribution of work for the community also receives the names of tequil, mano vuelta (hand turned), fajina, task, corima (from the Rarámuri language, to give away or share) or trabajo de en medio (work in the middle). Due to the fact that the Nahuatl language was used as the lingua franca during the colonial era in New Spain, tequio is the term that has been generalized in various areas to refer to this activity. The expression in Spanish prestar el servicio (to provide the service) means "providing tequio". Providing the service is honorable for members of the indigenous community and is understood as a moral obligation that they cannot refuse. It is one an occasion to meet, partake in collective work, and identify as a community. Members of communities that practice tequio will periodically take a day off of work to provide service in a task required by the community. Tasks accomplished during tequio usually fall under a category of honorable and prestigious work that, according to the ancient purely indigenous custom, should not be charged for or compensated. The indigenous person is called to carry the topilli, the baton of command, to preserve and resolve common affairs according to custom, she is appointed by her community to direct it and represent it as an indigenous council supported by the topiles, even at the cost of the personal sacrifice that it meant in all of them and still means in various indigenous communities, especially in some of the Oaxacan ones where they survive. In some communities, members who have since moved elsewhere in Mexico or the United States of America are appointed in absentia to provide community service. No matter where they now reside, they will receive notice of their appointment asking them to return to perform community services. The custom is so