The güingaro and the machete are tools intended primarily for cutting, cultivation, and the weeding of low-growing vegetation; consequently, they are used throughout all phases of the agricultural cycle. The güingaro consists of a crescent-shaped steel blade attached to a wooden handle. In the Huasteca region, this tool is indispensable for farmers and vanilla producers, as it allows for the manual maintenance of cultivated fields. Today, these tools are commercially manufactured and purchased in local markets; in the past, however, güingaros were produced in local forges in the highlands of Hidalgo.
The machete, for its part, consists of an iron blade whose cutting edge runs in the same direction as the handle. Its design offers mechanical advantages: the wedge-shaped edge operates through percussion, while the tool as a whole makes use of leverage to facilitate cutting. During the colonial period, this and other iron tools gained great popularity among Indigenous peoples, as they made it possible to expand cultivated areas with less physical effort. From the time of their introduction, iron tools acquired considerable exchange value as well as important social and symbolic significance, since they directly affected the organization of agricultural labor: possession of tillage implements guaranteed access to work in the milpa and, therefore, to economic resources. The importance of owning iron tools is recorded in various documentary sources, such as wills, where the inheritance of material goods across generations is linked to the transmission and preservation of the memory of agricultural labor.
Beyond its agricultural function, the machete has also been incorporated into dance traditions as a symbolic implement of combat, alluding to swords and sabers. It figures prominently in the dances of Moors and Christians, introduced by the Spanish during the colonial period and inspired by historical events of the Middle Ages, such as the Crusades and the wars of the Reconquista against the Moors. In this performative context, the machete appears as a sword used in choreographed combat. The Tutunakuj (Totonac) people of the Sierra Norte de Puebla perform the Dance of the Santiagueros, in which the Apostle Saint James leads the Christians, mounted on his horse and assisted by his son Gallinche. This army of dancers confronts the Moors, led by Pilate, a character who embodies “evil” through a black mask with aged features. The dance is accompanied by flute and drum music of European tradition. The episode of machete combat carries strong symbolic value, representing the submission of the Moors before Saint James and the death of Pilate.
Alain Ichon interpreted this dance through a meteorological framework in which Saint James is conceived as the “Son of Thunder,” an aquatic entity of great importance in Tutunakuj cosmology. Within this interpretation, Saint James embodies the victorious rain that subdues the deities of death, evil, and darkness. From this perspective, the blood shed by the dancers symbolically alludes to raindrops. Machete combats involve vigorous movements intended to inflict wounds on one's opponent, and at the conclusion of the dance it is common to hear both participants and spectators commenting with satisfaction on the injuries sustained.