Huastec
Huastec
(wäs`tĕk), indigenous people of the PánucoPánuco, river, c.315 mi (510 km) long, rising as the Santa María River in San Luis Potosí state, N central Mexico, and flowing generally east to empty into the Gulf of Mexico near Tampico. It is navigable for c.200 mi (322 km).
..... Click the link for more information. River basin, E Mexico. They speak a Mayan language but are isolated from the rest of the Mayan stock, from whom they may have been separated prior to the arrival of the Spanish. Their culture did not develop along with that of the Maya. They remained apart from the later civilizations of the central plateau, such as the Aztec. Huastecan music and dancing have influenced some of the musical folklore of Mexico. The contemporary Huastec population, maintaining aspects of their traditional culture and language, numbers about 80,000 in the areas of Veracruz and San Luis Potosí.
Bibliography
See R. Wauchope, Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. III: Ethnology (ed. by E. Z. Vogt, 1964).