Rodriguez – Hoja Dorada

Hoja dorada, or Golden leaf, tells the lives of tobacco workerswho travel from the mountains of Jalisco, Nayarit, Durangoand some of Zacatecas to the tobaccofields on the coast ofNayarit. Most families are indigenous Wixaritari, Wixarika forthe singular person. Entire families who make long trips tocome to work in the area that was once called The Gold Coastdue to the profits it left for the large tobacco companies, butnot for the day laborers. Families often travel from far away onfoot and stay throughout the tobacco cutting season, whichlasts approximately 6 months. They live and sleep in the sametobaccofields under very poor conditions, they sleep inenchanted tents, they cook in stoves made of the same claywhere they sleep, and they bathe in irrigation canalscontaminated by chemical pesticides.