of a ritual. The making of the paper and non-ritualistic cutting did not interfere with the ritual aspects of paper in general. This allowed a product formerly reserved only for ritual to become something with market value as well. It also allowed the making of paper to become open to the population of San Pablito and not only to shamans. However, most amate paper is sold as the backing for paintings made by Nahua artists from Guerrero state. There are various stories as to how painting on bark paper came about but they are divided between whether it was a Nahua or an Otomi idea. However, it is known that both Nahua and Otomi sold crafts at the Bazar del Sábado in San Ángel in Mexico City in the 1960s. The Otomi were selling paper and other crafts and the Nahua were selling their traditionally painted pottery. The Nahua transferred many of their pottery painting designs onto amate paper, which is easier to transport and sell. The Nahua called the paintings by their word for bark paper, which is "amatl." Today, the word is applied to all crafts which use the paper. The new painting form found great demand from the start, and at first, the Nahua would buy almost all of the Otomi's paper production. Painting on bark paper quickly spread to various villages in Guerrero and by the end of the 1960s, became the most important economic activity in eight Nahua villages Ameyaltepec, Oapan, Ahuahuapan, Ahuelican, Analco, San Juan Tetelcingo, Xalitla and Maxela. (page 106) Each Nahua village has its own painting styles developed from the tradition of painting ceramics, and this allowed works to be classified. The rise of amate paper occurred during a time when government policies towards rural indigenous people and their crafts were changing, with the latter being encourage especially to help develop the tourism industry. FONART became part of the consolidation of distribution efforts for amate paper. Much of this involved buying all of the Otomi production of bark paper to ensure that the Nahua would have sufficient supplies. Although this intervention lasted for only about two years, it was crucial for developing sales of amate crafts in national and international markets. Since then, while the Nahua are still the principle buyers of Otomi amate paper, the Otomi have since branched out into different types of paper and have developed some of their