Indigenous people of Oaxaca - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Indigenous people of Oaxaca are descendants of the inhabitants of what is now the state of Oaxaca

Oaxaca

Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

who were present before the Spanish invasion.
Several cultures flourished in the ancient region of Oaxaca from as far back as 2000 BC, of whom the Zapotecs and Mixtecs were perhaps the most advanced, with complex social organization and sophisticated arts.

According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI) Oaxaca has the greatest percentage of indigenous people after Yucatán

Yucatán

Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....

, at 48% of the population.
There are 16 formally registered indigenous communities, some of which are culturally diverse themselves.
Many of the people are socially marginalized, living in poverty.

Speakers of each language

The 16 groups and the number of speakers of their language according to the 2005 census are:

Zapotec – 357,134
Mixtec
Mixtec
The Mixtec are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples inhabiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla in a region known as La Mixteca. The Mixtecan languages form an important branch of the Otomanguean language family....

– 290,049
Mazateco – 164,673
Chinantec
Chinantec
The Chinantecs are an indigenous people that live in Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico, especially in the districts of Cuicatlán, Ixtlán de Juárez, Tuxtepec and Choapan.The Chinantec languages belong to the Chinantecan branch of the Oto-Manguean family...

o – 104,010
Mixe
Mixe
The Mixe or Mije is an indigenous group inhabiting the eastern highlands of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. They speak the Mixe languages which are classified in the Mixe–Zoque family, and are more culturally conservative than other indigenous groups of the region, maintaining their language to this...

– 103,089
Chatino
Chatino
Chatino is the Spanish name of an indigenous people of southern central Mexico, and also of their language, the Chatino language. Chatino communities are located in the southeastern region of the state of Oaxaca. Speakers of Chatino are numbered around 23,000 , but ethnic Chatinos may number many...

– 42,477
Trique
Trique
The Trique or Triqui are an indigenous people of the western part of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, centered in the municipalities of Juxtlahuaca, Tlaxiaco and Putla. They number around 23,000 according to the Ethnologue surveys. The Trique language is a Mixtecan language of Oto-Manguean genetic...

– 18,292
Huave
Huave language
Huave is a language isolate spoken by the indigenous Huave people on the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The language is spoken in four villages on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the southeast of the state, by around 18,000 people...

– 15,324
Cuicatec
Cuicatec
The Cuicatecs are an indigenous group of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, closely related to the Mixtecs. They inhabit two towns: Teutila and Tepeuxila in western Oaxaca...

o – 12,128
Zoque
Zoque
The Zoque are an indigenous people of Mexico; they speak variants of the Zoque languages.This group consists of 41,609 people, according to the 2000 census...

– 10,000 (est)
Amuzgo
Amuzgo
Amuzgo is an Oto-Manguean language spoken in the Costa Chica region of the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca by about 44,000 speakers. Like other Oto-Manguean languages, Amuzgo is a tonal language. From syntactical point of view Amuzgo can be considered as an active language...

– 4,819
Oaxacan Chontal
Tequistlatecan
The Tequistlatecan languages, also called Chontal of Oaxaca, are three close but distinct languages spoken by the Chontal people of Oaxaca State, Mexico:*Huamelultec ,*Tequistlatec proper ,*Highland Oaxaca Chontal....

– 4,610
Tacuate
Tacuate
The Tacuate are an indigenous people who live in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico.They speak a variant of the Mixtec language.As of 1992, there were about 6,000 speakers of the Tacuate dialect, of whom less than 20% were monolingual....

– 1,726
Chochotec
Chochotec
Chocho is a language of the Popolocan branch of the Oto-Manguean linguistic family spoken in Mexico in the following communities of Oaxaca: Santa María Nativitas, San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca, San Miguel Tulancingo...

– 524
Ixcatec
Ixcatec language
Ixcatec, also known as Xwja, is a language spoken by the people of the Mexican village of Santa María Ixcatlan, in the northern part of the state of Oaxaca...

o – 207
Popoloco
Sierra Popoluca
Sierra Popoluca, also sometimes referred to as Soteapanec, Soteapan Zoque, or Highland Popoluca, is a Mixe–Zoquean language of the Zoquean branch. It is spoken by around 30,000 indigenous Popoluca people in and around the town of Soteapan in the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas in southern Veracruz, Mexico...

– 61

Of these, 477,788 are non-Spanish monolingual.
The majority of people speak languages of the Oto-Manguean family, either the Popolocan-Zapotecan branch or the Amuzgo-Mixtecan branch.

Background

The Oaxaca region is at the convergence of the Sierra Madre Oriental

Sierra Madre Oriental

The Sierra Madre Oriental is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico.-Setting:Spanning the Sierra Madre Oriental runs from Coahuila south through Nuevo León, southwest Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, and Hidalgo to northern Puebla, where it joins with the east-west running Eje Volcánico...

and the Sierra Madre del Sur

Sierra Madre del Sur

The Sierra Madre del Sur is a mountain range in southern Mexico, extending from southern Michoacán east through Guerrero, to the Istmo de Tehuantepec in eastern Oaxaca.-Geography:...

mountain ranges, resulting in a rugged and mountainous terrain with a large, temperate central valley

Valles Centrales de Oaxaca

The Valles Centrales is a region in the heart of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.It includes the districts of Etla, Centro, Zaachila, Zimatlán, Ocotlán, Tlacolula and Ejutla...

.
The climate is temperate, cooler at higher altitudes and warmer by the coast and in the Papaloapan region

Papaloapan Region, Oaxaca

The Cuenca del Papaloapan Region is in the north of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico where the foothills of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca meet the coastal plain of Veracruz.The principal city is San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, the second largest in Oaxaca state....

, which is part of the Gulf of Mexico coastal plain.
Oaxaca is the historic home of the Zapotec and Mixtec

Mixtec

The Mixtec are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples inhabiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla in a region known as La Mixteca. The Mixtecan languages form an important branch of the Otomanguean language family....

peoples among others, and contains more speakers of indigenous languages

Mesoamerican languages

Mesoamerican languages are the languages indigenous to the Mesoamerican cultural area, which covers southern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. The area is characterized by extensive linguistic diversity containing several hundred different languages and...

than any other Mexican state.

Excavations have shown that the region has had a settled population for at least 4,000 years.
In the pre-Colombian period, the Zapotec developed an advanced civilization centered in Monte Alban

Monte Albán

Monte Albán is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán Municipality in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca...

in the central valley, which lasted between 300 BC and 700 AD.
The state was expansionist, and extended its authority to the north, west, and southwest.

Further to the west, Mixtec settlements have been dated back to 1500 BC, and the Mixtec also developed advanced city states such as Tilantongo

Tilantongo

Tilantongo was a Mixtec citystate in the Mixteca Alta region of the State of Oaxaca which is now visible as an archeological site and a modern town of Santiago Tilantongo. It is located at 17°15' N. Lat. and 97°17' W. Long...

and Tututepec

Tututepec

Tututepec is a Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the lower Río Verde valley on the coast of Oaxaca that formed the nucleus of an extensive Mixtec state during the Late Postclassic period...

. The Mixtec were known for their exceptional mastery of jewelry, in which gold and turquoise figure prominently.
Around 1250 AD the Aztecs began pushing down from the North.
Mixtec groups in turn invaded the Valley of Oaxaca and established the Cuilapan state.
Shortly before the Spanish arrived, most of the west and central areas of Oaxaca had come under Aztec control.

The Aztec empire disintegrated after the fall of their capital of Tenochtitlan to the Spanish in August 1521.
The Spanish crown granted Oaxaca to the conquistador Hernan Cortes

Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...

as his prize.
The Spanish introduced new food such as wheat and sugar cane and new methods of cultivation.
Diseases introduced by the Spanish greatly diminished the native population of Oaxaca, as did the insatiable appetite for gold, which led more and more Oaxacans into the dangerous mines.

Over the 300 years of colonialism, many aspects of life became Europeanized.
Important government positions were filled by the Spanish and their descendants, and later by elite mestizos, persons of mixed European and indigenous ancestry.
However, Oaxaca remained largely an agriculture-based economy with little development throughout the colonial period, following Mexican independence in 1821 and following the revolution of 1910.
By the 1980s and 1990s, Oaxaca was one of Mexico's poorest states.
The state, and the indigenous people in particular, had some of the nation's highest rates of illiteracy, malnutrition, and infant mortality.

Oto-Manguean

The Oto-Manguean languages

Oto-Manguean languages

Oto-Manguean languages are a large family comprising several families of Native American languages. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but the Manguean branch of the family, which is now extinct, was spoken as far south as Nicaragua and Costa Rica.The...

are a large family comprising several families of Native American languages, which has not been positively related to any other group of languages.
The Oto-Manguean family has existed in southern Mexico at least since 4000 BCE and probably before.
The highest number of speakers of these languages are found in Oaxaca where the two largest branches, the Zapotecan

Zapotecan languages

The Zapotecan languages are a group of related Oto-Manguean languages which descend from the common proto-Zapotecan language spoken by the Zapotec people during the era of the dominance of Monte Albán....

and Mixtecan languages

Mixtecan languages

The Mixtec language, actually multiple languages, belong to Otomanguean language family of Mexico, and are closely related to the Trique and Cuicatec languages. They are spoken by over half a million people. Identifying how many Mixtec languages there are in this complex dialect continuum poses...

, are spoken by almost 1.5 million people combined.

Zapotec

The Zapotec people are concentrated in Oaxaca

Oaxaca

, but Zapotec communities exist in neighboring states as well. The present-day population is estimated at approximately 300,000 to 400,000 persons, many of whom are monolingual in one of the native Zapotec language

Zapotec language

The Zapotec language are a group of closely related indigenous Mesoamerican languages spoken by the Zapotec people from the southwestern-central highlands of Mexico. Present-day native speakers are estimated to number over half a million, with the majority inhabiting the state of Oaxaca....

s and dialect

Dialect

The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...

s. In pre-Columbian

Pre-Columbian

The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...

times the Zapotec civilization

Zapotec civilization

The Zapotec civilization was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca of southern Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence shows their culture goes back at least 2500 years...

was one of the highly developed cultures of Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...

, which among other things included a system of writing.

There are four basic groups of Zapotecs: the , who live in the southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec

Isthmus of Tehuantepec

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and prior to the opening of the Panama Canal was a major shipping route known simply as the Tehuantepec Route...

the , who live in the northern mountains of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca

Sierra Madre de Oaxaca

The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca is a mountain range in southern Mexico. It begins at Pico de Orizaba and extends in a southeasterly direction for 300 km until reaching the Isthmus of Tehuantepec...

, the southern Zapotecs, who live in the southern mountains of the Sierra Sur and the Central Valley Zapotecs, who live in and around the Valley of Oaxaca

Valley of Oaxaca

The Valley of Oaxaca is a geographic region located within the modern day State of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. The valley, which is located within the Sierra Madre Mountains, is shaped like a distorted and almost upside-down “Y,” with each of its arms bearing specific names: the northwestern Etla...

Chatino

Chatino is the Spanish name of an indigenous people of southern central Mexico, and also of their language, the Chatino language. Chatino communities are located in the southeastern region of the state of Oaxaca. Speakers of Chatino are numbered around 23,000 , but ethnic Chatinos may number many...

communities are located in the southeastern region of Oaxaca. Speakers of the Chatino language

Chatino language

The Chatino language is an indigenous Mesoamerican language, which is classified under the Zapotecan branch of the Oto-Manguean language family...

are numbered around 23,000 (Ethnologue surveys), but ethnic Chatinos may number many more. They call themselves Kitse Cha'tño and their language Cha'tña.
Chatino populations are found in the following Oaxacan municipalities

Municipalities of Oaxaca

The Mexican state of Oaxacais made up of 571 municipalities —more than any other state....

, mostly in the area around Juquila: Santos Reyes Nopala

Santos Reyes Nopala

Santos Reyes Nopala is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Juquila District in the center of the Costa Region.The name Nopala is derived from the Nahuatl word for cactus.-Environment:...

, San Juan Quiahije

San Juan Quiahije

San Juan Quiahije is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Juquila District in the center of the Costa Region.Quiahije means "Stone Forest" in the Zapotec language....

, San Miguel Panixtlahuaca

San Miguel Panixtlahuaca

San Miguel Panixtlahuaca is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Juquila District in the center of the Costa Region.The name "Panixtlahuatl" in the Nahuatl language means "Plain of the Bridge".-Environment:...

, Santiago Yaitepec

Santiago Yaitepec

Santiago Yaitepec is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico, two kilometers southeast of Santa Catarina Juquila.It is part of the Juquila District in the center of the Costa Region.The name "Yaitepec" means means "Three hills"....

, Santa Cruz Zezontepec, San Juan Lachao

San Juan Lachao

San Juan Lachao is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Juquila District in the center of the Costa Region.The municipality covers 190.1 km² of hilly land...

, Santa María Temaxcaltepec

Santa María Temaxcaltepec

Santa María Temaxcaltepec is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Juquila District in the center of the Costa Region....

, Santa Catarina Juquila

Santa Catarina Juquila

Santa Catarina Juquila is a town in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, and is the seat of the municipality also called Santa Catarina Juquila.It is part of the Juquila District in the center of the Costa Region....

and Tataltepec de Valdés

Tataltepec de Valdés

Tataltepec de Valdés is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Juquila District in the center of the Costa Region.The town was established around 400-300 BC...

.

The region that the Chatinos inhabit is rich in natural resources. Traditionally many Chatino people have been involved in agriculture which depends very much on the climate, so some Chatinos have had to emigrate to the corners of the district of Juquila to work on coffee plantations. Most Chatino communities have public services, and there are runways for airports in many municipalities. Federal bilingual schools, high schools, and telesecundaria
Telesecundaria
Telesecundaria is a system of distance education programs for secondary and high school students created by the government of Mexico and available in rural areas of the country as well as Central America, South America, Canada and the United States via satellite .-Background:Telesecundaria was born...

s (distance education programs for secondary and high school students) have been established.

The traditional authorities of this people are organized in a system based on civil and religious roles, in which advice from elders is treated as the greatest authority. They believe in the Holy Grandmother, the Holy Father Sun, the Holy Mother Earth, and the Holy Mother Moon. In addition, they worship the deities of water, wind, rain, the mountain, and fire.

Mazatec

The Mazatec speak a closely related group of languages

Mazatecan languages

The Mazatecan languages are a group of closely related indigenous languages spoken by some 200,000 people in the area known as La Sierra Mazateca, which located in the Northern part of the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, as well as in adjacent areas of the states of Puebla and Veracruz...

spoken in the northern part of the state of Oaxaca, and in some communities in the states of Puebla

Puebla

Puebla officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 217 municipalities and its capital city is Puebla....

and Veracruz

Veracruz

Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...

.
The name Mazatec is an exonym and comes from Nahuatl

Nahuatl

Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...

, meaning "deer people".
The Mazatec people refer to themselves in their own language(s) as Ha shuta Enima (or other variants), meaning approximately "workers of the mountains, humble people of custom".

The Mazatec shamans

Mazatec shamans

The Mazatec Shamans are known for their ritual use of psilocybe mushrooms. Some shamans on occasion use other plants, such as Salvia divinorum and morning glory seeds...

are known for their ritual use of psilocybe

Psilocybe

Psilocybe is a genus of small mushrooms growing worldwide. This genus is best known for its species with psychedelic or hallucinogenic properties, widely known as "magic mushrooms", though the majority of species do not contain hallucinogenic compounds...

mushrooms.
Some shamans on occasion use other plants, such as Salvia divinorum

Salvia divinorum

Salvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant which can induce dissociative effects and is a potent producer of "visions" and other hallucinatory experiences...

and morning glory

Morning glory

Morning glory is a common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose current taxonomy and systematics is in flux...

seeds.
María Sabina

Maria Sabina

María Sabina was a Mazatec curandera who lived her entire life in a modest dwelling in the Sierra Mazateca of southern Mexico...

was one of the best known of the Mazatec Shamans.
Julieta Casimiro

Julieta Casimiro

Julieta Casimiro is a Mazatec Healer. As well as her work as an indigenous healer, Julieta has gained international recognition as a member of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers - a group of spiritual elders, medicine women and wisdom keepers since its founding in 2004.-Healing...

, a Mazatec Healer, has gained international recognition as a member of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers

International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers

The International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers is a group of Spiritual Elders who came together in 2004 to form an international alliance of indigenous female elders...

– a group of spiritual elders, medicine women

Medicine man

"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples...

and wisdom keepers since its founding in 2004.

Chocho

The Chocho people

Chocho people

The Chochos are an indigenous people of the Mexican state of Oaxaca.-Language:Their traditional language, Chocho, is a member of the Popolocan branch of the Oto-Manguean language family. , it had 770 speakers. Chochos also speak Spanish, the dominant language of Mexico.The Chocho name for...

live in the Oaxaca communities of Santa María Nativitas

Santa María Nativitas

Santa María Nativitas is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of km².It is part of the Coixtlahuaca district in the Mixteca Region.As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of ....

, San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca

San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca

San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca is a small town and municipality located in the Mixteca Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, and the center of the Coixtlahuaca district. The name, “Coixtlahuaca” means ‘plain of snakes’ in the Nahuatl language.-Town:...

and San Miguel Tulancingo

San Miguel Tulancingo

San Miguel Tulancingo is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 53.59 km².It is part of the Coixtlahuaca district in the Mixteca Region.As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 336....

in the Coixtlahuaca district

Coixtlahuaca District, Oaxaca

Coixtlahuaca District is located in the northeast of the Mixteca Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. As of 2005 the population was 9,018, down 2.8% from 2000.The region is generally from 2,000m to 3,000m high, mostly hilly or mountainous with small plains....

of the Mixteca Region

Mixteca Region, Oaxaca

The Mixteca Region is a region in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, part of the broader La Mixteca area which covers parts of the states of Puebla, Guerrero and Oaxaca....

.
Starting from around 1900, improved education in Spanish resulted in reduction of the number of Chocho speakers, who are now mostly elderly.
As of 1998, the Chocho language had 770 speakers.

The terrain of the Chocho country is mountainous with low rainfall, hot summers and cold winters.
Traditional houses have wood frames with walls made from the stem of the maguey plant, and roofs of palm or maguey leaves.
The main source of cash comes from weaving palm-leaf hats, which is done in underground caves to prevent the leaves from drying out.
The staple Chocho diet is maize supplemented with beans, chiles and fruits.
They may eat goat meat on Sundays, and chicken or turkey during festivals.
Coixtlahuaca was a thriving Chocho and Ixtatec market until about 1900, but since then many people have had move away due to loss of topsoil to erosion.

Ixcatec

Ixcatec language

Ixcatec, also known as Xwja, is a language spoken by the people of the Mexican village of Santa María Ixcatlan, in the northern part of the state of Oaxaca...

, also known as Xwja, is a language spoken by the people of the village of Santa María Ixcatlan

Santa María Ixcatlan

Santa María Ixcatlan is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Teotitlán District in the north of the Cañada Region.The municipality has an area of 201.58 km2 at an elevation of 1,840 meters above sea level....

in the north of the Cañada region

Cañada, Oaxaca

Cañada is a region in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico covering 4,300 square km. It includes two districts, Teotitlán and Cuicatlán.The main administrative center is Teotitlan de Flores Magon, but Huautla de Jimenez is considered the most important cultural center in the region.The region is named after...

of Oaxaca.
The name Ixtepec means "people of cotton" in Nahuatl

Nahuatl

.
The number of speakers was given to be 119 in the early 1980s, but according to the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, there were only 8 speakers of the language in 2008.
The last speakers of the language are persons aged 70 years who can barely speak Spanish and cannot read or write, handicapping efforts to document and preserve the language.

Popoloco

The name "Popoloco" is a Náhuatl

Nahuatl

word meaning "incomprehensible", and is applied to several unrelated people.
The Popoluca of Oaxaca call themselves Homshuk, which means "God of Corn".
In the 2000 census, only 61 Popoloco speakers were counted in Oaxaca.
The language is related to Mazatec and Chochotec.

Mixtec

The Mixtec

Mixtec

inhabit Oaxaca, Guerrero

Guerrero

Guerrero officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guerrero is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo....

and Puebla

Puebla

in a region known as La Mixteca

La Mixteca

La Mixteca is a cultural, economic and political region that covers parts of the states of Puebla, Guerrero and Oaxaca in south-central Mexico....

. The Mixtecan languages

Mixtecan languages

form an important branch of the Otomanguean language family.
The term Mixtec (Mixteco in Spanish) comes from the Nahuatl

Nahuatl

word Mixtecapan, or "place of the cloud-people."

Amuzgo

Amuzgo is an Oto-Manguean language spoken in the Costa Chica region of the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca by about 44,000 speakers. Like other Oto-Manguean languages, Amuzgo is a tonal language. From syntactical point of view Amuzgo can be considered as an active language...

is an Oto-Manguean language spoken in the Costa Chica

Costa Chica

Costa Chica may refer to:Other*Costa Chica...

region of Guerrero

Guerrero

and Oaxaca by about 44,000 speakers.
The name Amuzgo is claimed to be a Nahuatl exonym but its meaning is shrouded in controversy; multiple proposals have been made, including [amoʃ-ko] 'moss-in'.
A significant percentage of the Amuzgo speakers are monolingual; the remainder also speak Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

.

Four variants of Amuzgo are officially recognized by the governmental agency, the Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas (INALI).

Cuicatec

The Cuicatec

Cuicatec

The Cuicatecs are an indigenous group of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, closely related to the Mixtecs. They inhabit two towns: Teutila and Tepeuxila in western Oaxaca...

are closely related to the Mixtec

Mixtec

s. They inhabit two towns: Teutila and Tepeuxila in western Oaxaca. According to the 2000 census, they number around 23,000, of whom an estimated 65% are speakers of the language.

Trique

The Trique

Trique

The Trique or Triqui are an indigenous people of the western part of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, centered in the municipalities of Juxtlahuaca, Tlaxiaco and Putla. They number around 23,000 according to the Ethnologue surveys. The Trique language is a Mixtecan language of Oto-Manguean genetic...

are an indigenous people of the western part of Oaxaca, centered in the municipalities of Juxtlahuaca

Juxtlahuaca District, Oaxaca

Juxtlahuaca District is located in the southwest of the Mixteca Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. The largest town is Santiago Juxtlahuaca.The district is at an average elevation of 1,690 meters above sea level, and has an area of 1,848 km2....

, Tlaxiaco

Tlaxiaco

Tlaxiaco is a city, and its surrounding municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the Tlaxiaco District in the south of the Mixteca Region, with a population of about 17,450. The city is formally known as Heroica Ciudad de Tlaxiaco in honour of a battle waged...

and Putla. They number around 23,000 according to the Ethnologue

Ethnologue

Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...

surveys. All Trique peoples are known for their distinctive woven huipil

Huipíl

A huipil is a form of Maya textile and tunic or blouse worn by indigenous Mayan, Zapotec, and other women in central to southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and western Honduras, in the northern part of Central America. Some are also worn by men, particularly in Guatemala...

es, baskets, and morrales (handbags).

Trique people live in a mountainous region, called "La mixteca baja", in the Southwest part of Oaxaca. The elevation within the Trique region varies between 1,500 – 3,000 meters (4,921 – 9,843 feet). This high elevation permits low-lying cumulus cloud

Cumulus cloud

Cumulus clouds are a type of cloud with noticeable vertical development and clearly defined edges. Cumulus means "heap" or "pile" in Latin. They are often described as "puffy" or "cotton-like" in appearance. Cumulus clouds may appear alone, in lines, or in clusters...

s to envelop entire towns during the afternoons and evenings.

Like many other southern Mexicans, many Trique men travel to Oaxaca City

Oaxaca, Oaxaca

The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or simply Oaxaca, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of the same name . It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín...

, Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

, or the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

as day labor

Day labor

Day labor is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future. It is a form of contingent work.-Types:Day laborers find work through three common routes....

ers or migrant worker

Migrant worker

The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...

s. As the average daily salary of a rural Oaxacan is less than $5 (U.S.) and La Mixteca is the poorest region of Oaxaca, migration and remittances sent back to Oaxaca confer economic benefits to both migrant Triques and their families in Oaxaca.
Trique women are more likely to remain in the Trique region and do not travel as often as Trique men do.

Tacuate

As of 1992, there were about 6,000 speakers of the Tacuate dialect of the Mixtec language, of whom less than 20% were monolingual.
Most of the people are engaged in subsistence agriculture, with some keeping cattle and goats, and with women producing textile crafts for a source of cash.
Land tenure is usually communal.
The Tacuate live in two municipalities in the Mixteca de la Costa area: Santa María Zacatepec

Santa María Zacatepec

Santa María Zacatepec is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of km².It is part of Putla District in the west of the Sierra Sur Region.As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of ....

in the Putla district

Putla District, Oaxaca

Putla District is located in the west of the Sierra Sur Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.-Municipalities:The district includes the following municipalities:*Constancia del Rosario*La Reforma, Oaxaca*Mesones Hidalgo*Putla Villa de Guerrero...

and Santiago Ixtayutla

Santiago Ixtayutla

Santiago Ixtayutla is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of km².It is located in the Jamiltepec District in the west of the Costa Region.As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of ....

in the Jamiltepec district

Jamiltepec District, Oaxaca

Jamiltepec District is located in the west of the Costa Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.-Municipalities:The district includes the following municipalities:*Mártires de Tacubaya*Pinotepa de Don Luis*Pinotepa Nacional*San Agustín Chayuco...

Chinantec

The Chinantec

Chinantec

The Chinantecs are an indigenous people that live in Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico, especially in the districts of Cuicatlán, Ixtlán de Juárez, Tuxtepec and Choapan.The Chinantec languages belong to the Chinantecan branch of the Oto-Manguean family...

s live in Oaxaca and Veracruz

Veracruz

, Mexico

Mexico

, especially in the districts of Cuicatlán, Ixtlán de Juárez

Ixtlán District, Oaxaca

Ixtlán District is located in the northeast of the Sierra Norte region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.The district includes 26 municipalities, bringing together a total of 161 settlements which at the 2000 census had between them 40,218 inhabitants, the majority of them indigenous Zapotec...

, Tuxtepec

Tuxtepec District, Oaxaca

Tuxtepec District is located in the north of the Papaloapan Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.-Municipalities:The district includes the following municipalities:*Acatlán de Pérez Figueroa*Ayotzintepec*Cosolapa*Loma Bonita*San Felipe Jalapa de Díaz...

and Choapan

Choapam District, Oaxaca

Choapam District is located in the south of the Papaloapan Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. The district has an area of 3,166 km2, and as of 2005 had a population of 37,809....

.
Their language belongs to the Western Oto-Mangue group.
The Ethnologue

Ethnologue

lists 14 different partially unintelligible varieties of Chinantec.
Some Chinantecs are still very traditional: they often wear traditional clothing and practice traditional crafts such as weaving, and they generally live from subsistence farming and small-scale trade.

Mixe–Zoque family

People who speak languages of the Mixe–Zoque family in Oaxaca are the Mixe

Mixe

The Mixe or Mije is an indigenous group inhabiting the eastern highlands of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. They speak the Mixe languages which are classified in the Mixe–Zoque family, and are more culturally conservative than other indigenous groups of the region, maintaining their language to this...

and the Zoque

Zoque

The Zoque are an indigenous people of Mexico; they speak variants of the Zoque languages.This group consists of 41,609 people, according to the 2000 census...

.
It has been speculated that they may be descendants of the Olmec

Olmec

The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....

people, who created the first Mesoamerican civilization around 1500 to 400 BC.

Mixe

The Mixe

Mixe

inhabit the eastern highlands of Oaxaca

Oaxaca

. They speak the Mixe languages

Mixe languages

The Mixe languages are languages of the Mixean branch of the Mixe–Zoquean language family indigenous to southern Mexico. According to a 1995 classification, there are seven of them...

, and are more culturally conservative than other indigenous groups of the region, maintaining their language to this day. A population figure of 90,000 speakers of Mixe were estimated by SIL international

SIL International

SIL International is a U.S.-based, worldwide, Christian non-profit organization, whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to expand linguistic knowledge, promote literacy, translate the Christian Bible into local languages,...

in 1993. The Mixe name for themselves is ayüükj'ä'äy meaning "people who speak the mountain language" The word "Mixe" itself is probably derived from the Nahuatl

Nahuatl

word for cloud: mixtli.

Zoque

The Zoque

Zoque

The Zoque are an indigenous people of Mexico; they speak variants of the Zoque languages.This group consists of 41,609 people, according to the 2000 census...

of Oaxaca live primarily in the municipalities of Santa María Chimalapa

Santa María Chimalapa

Santa María Chimalapa is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Juchitán District in the west of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region.-Environment:...

and San Miguel Chimalapa

San Miguel Chimalapa

San Miguel Chimalapa is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Juchitán District in the west of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region....

in the Selva Zoque

Selva Zoque

The Selva Zoque , which includes the Chimalapas rain forest, is an area of great ecological importance in Mexico. Most of the forest lies in the state of Oaxaca but parts are in Chiapas and Veracruz....

(Zoque forest), an area of 594,000 hectares of diverse and ecologically important forests in the Istmo de Tehuantepec region

Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca

Istmo de Tehuantepec is the largest region in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. It covers the southern part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the shortest route between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean before the Panama Canal was opened....

.
Due to immigration of other groups, they now account for perhaps 34% of the population in this area.
As of 2,000 about 1,757 Zoque speakers lived in Santa María and 1,675 in San Miguel Chimalapa.

In the pre-Hispanic period, the Zoque lived throughout Chiapas, and as far away as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and parts of the state of Tabasco

Tabasco

Tabasco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa....

.
In 1494 they were invaded and defeated by the Aztecs, during the reign of Ahuizotl, and forced to pay tribute

Tribute

A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...

.
The Spanish conquest of the Zoque lands commenced in 1523, under the leadership of Luis Marin. The Zoque were parceled out amongst the settlers, where they endured forced labor and were obliged to pay high tribute. Diseases, exploitation and the miserable conditions under which they lived contributed to a significant decrease in their numbers.

Huave

The Huave people

Huave people

The Huave are an indigenous people of Mexico. The autodenomination term used by the Huave themselves is Ikoots/Kunajts , or Mareños . They have inhabited the Isthmus of Tehuantepec for more than 3000 years, preceding the Zapotec people in settling the area...

live on a peninsula reserved for them called the Zona Huave between the Gulf of Tehuantepec and the Pacific Ocean in the Istmo de Tehuantepec region

Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca

.
Terrain includes low forested hills, pastures and swamps.
The towns are San Mateo de Mar, San Dionisio del Mar

San Dionisio del Mar

San Dionisio del Mar is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Juchitán District in the east of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region.The town is named after its patron saint....

, San Francisco del Mar

San Francisco del Mar

San Francisco del Mar is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Juchitán District in the west of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region....

and Santa Maria del Mar. There are approximately 10,000 Huave speakers, most of whom fish or practice traditional agriculture. Recently a handicrafts union has been attempting to introduce traditional weavings as a commercial product.
The Huave language

Huave language

Huave is a language isolate spoken by the indigenous Huave people on the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The language is spoken in four villages on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the southeast of the state, by around 18,000 people...

is a language isolate

Language isolate

A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single...

, unrelated to any other.
The most vibrant speech community is in San Mateo del Mar, whose people call themselves Ikoots, meaning "us" and refer to their language as ombeayiiüts, meaning "our language".

Chontal

Oaxacan Chontal

Tequistlatecan

The Tequistlatecan languages, also called Chontal of Oaxaca, are three close but distinct languages spoken by the Chontal people of Oaxaca State, Mexico:*Huamelultec ,*Tequistlatec proper ,*Highland Oaxaca Chontal....

, also called Tequistlatecan, consists of two related but mutually unintelligible languages, Lowland Oaxaca Chontal, and the Highland Oaxaca Chontal.
There has been speculation that the languages may be part of the Hokan family of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, or perhaps the Jicaque family, of Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

.
The name "Chontal" comes from the Nahuatl

Nahuatl

, meaning "foreigner" or "foreign", and is also applied to an unrelated language of Tabasco. The Chontal may have lived in the Villa Alta region to the east up to around 300 AD, but moved westward under pressure from the Mixes and moved to their present location in the 15th century due to Zapotec aggression.

Lowland Chontal is mostly spoken around San Pedro Huamelula

San Pedro Huamelula

San Pedro Huamelula is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is in the west of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region, on the Pacific coast.-Environment:...

and Santiago Astata

Santiago Astata

Santiago Astata is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region.The name "Astata" means "place of herons"....

in the Pacific coastal area of the western Tehuantepec District

Tehuantepec District, Oaxaca

Tehuantepec District is located in the west of the Istmo Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.It includes the cities of Salina Cruz and Tehuantepec.-Municipalities:The district includes the following municipalities:...

, which is in the west of the Istmo region

Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca

.
There may be about 200 fluent first-language speakers and another 750 semi-speakers, all older than 40. Lowland Chontal is considered an endangered language.
The coastal lowlands cover about 870 km² made up of rugged foothills and mountain ridges 50–700 m above sea level.
The climate is tropically hot and sub-humid with a dry season from October to May and a rainy season from June to September
Some trees are suitable for lumber, but the region is becoming deforested.
Mostly the people use slash-and-burn agriculture to cultivate maize.

As of 1990, about 3,600 spoke highland or Sierra Chontal.
The speakers of this language live in the districts of Yautepec

Yautepec District, Oaxaca

Yautepec District is located in the east of the Sierra Sur Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.-Environment:The district lies in the eastern end of the Sierra Madre del Sur and is mountainous, with an area of 4,772 square kilometers....

and Tehuantepec

Tehuantepec District, Oaxaca

in the municipalities of San Carlos Yautepec

San Carlos Yautepec

San Carlos Yautepec is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Yautepec District in the east of the Sierra Sur Region.The name "Yautepec" means "hill of black corn"....

, Santa Maria Ecatepec

Santa María Ecatepec

Santa María Ecatepec is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Yautepec District in the east of the Sierra Sur Region.The name "Ecatepec" means "mountain air"....

, Asunción Tlacolulita

Asunción Tlacolulita

Asunción Tlacolulita is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Yautepec District in the east of the Sierra Sur Region....

, San Miguel Tenango

San Miguel Tenango

San Miguel Tenango is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region....

and Santa Magdalena Tequisistlán.
They practice subsistence agriculture growing corn, squash, beans and vegetables as well as fruit trees such soursop, mamey, sapodilla, avocado, guava and nanche. They also grow maguey mezcal, sugar, pepper and coffee. Livestock includes chickens, turkeys, pigs, goats and cattle. Hunting and fishing provide alternative food sources.

Speakers of each language

Background

Oto-Manguean

Zapotec

Chatino

Mazatec

Chocho

Ixcatec

Popoloco

Mixtec

Amuzgo

Cuicatec

Trique

Tacuate

Chinantec

Mixe–Zoque family

Mixe

Zoque

Huave

Chontal

See also