About Oaxaca: Indigenous Cultures

Indigenous Cultures by Kate Leier

My topic is Indigenous cultures, which is something very vital to Oaxaca and it’s history. Oaxaca is unique in that it is a hub for rich indigenous history, and its culture is a defining aspect for Oaxaca.  National Geographic tells us that “While there are officially 16 indigenous groups in Oaxaca, every group actually has hundreds of subgroups, each distinguished by unique linguistic and social traditions. Oaxaca, like the nearby states of Guerrero and Chiapas, contains a startlingly diverse range of indigenous cultures with roots that reach back many centuries.”

Many consider Oaxaca to be the most ethnically diverse of all of the states of Mexico. One article tells that “Oaxaca's rugged topography has played a significant role in giving rise to its amazing cultural diversity. Because individual towns and tribal groups lived in isolation from each other for long periods of time, the subsequent seclusion allowed sixteen ethnolinguistic groups to maintain their individual languages, customs and ancestral traditions intact well into the colonial era and - to some extent - to the present day.”

A prominent ethnic group there today are the Zapotec. Approximately 347,000 people, or 9% of the population of Oaxaca identify as Zapotec. There is much archeological evidence to suggest that the Zapotecs were one of the first ethnic groups to gain prominence in the area that is now Oaxaca. Unlike many other ethnic groups, they have no history or folklore of migrations ,and instead believe that their gods and early ancestors emerged from rocks and caves. They refer to themselves as Be’ena’a, which roughly translates to “The People” or “True People.” This refers to the fact that they are seen as the rightful people of the land, a true ethnic group of Oaxaca.

Another important indigenous group of Oaxaca are the Mixtecs. One article tells that “The Mixtecs originally inhabited the southern portions of what are now the states of Guerrero and Puebla. However, they started moving south and eastward, eventually making their way to the Central Valley of Oaxaca..” Their dominance in the valley of Oaxaca was more short lived. Today, roughly 6.1% of the population or 241,000 people identify as Mixtec. They call themselves the Ñuu Savi, "People of the Rain." Their homeland is the Mixteca, a region which occupies the western half of the Mexican state of Oaxaca and small parts of Guerrero and Puebla, states on Oaxaca's northern and western borders.

As many people know, the Aztecs were an indigenous group that dominated much of pre-colonial Mexico. Both the Zapotecs and Mixtecs had run-ins with the Aztecs. Both struggled to keep the Aztecs from gaining control of their trade routes to Chiapas and Guatemala. They had bigger things to worry about, with the Spanish colonists coming shortly after the Aztec rise reached Oaxaca.

References:

http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/oaxaca_cultures.html

http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/371-the-indigenous-people-of-oaxaca

http://www.history.com/topics/mexico/oaxaca