The Otomi textiles, also known as tenangos take weeks or even years for the women to hand embroider, and are said to be based off of cliff painting in the Tepehua-Otomi mountains in the area. Some say that they may be also inspired by cave paintings in the Mexican Plateau area.

While some of the shapes tend to be more abstract, most of them are based on motifs that can date back to hundreds of years ago.