Totontepec Villa de Morelos is a small village and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, in the

Sierra Mixe The Sierra Mixe or Mixes District is a district in the east of the Sierra Norte Region of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It comprises 17 municipalities and covers 4,930 km2 at an average elevation of 1,200 meters above sea level. As of 2005 the dis ...

district of the Mexican state of

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

. It is located some 1840 metres above sea level and some 326 km from the

state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals * List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population * List of national capitals by area * List of capital c ...

Oaxaca de Juárez Oaxaca de Juárez (), also Oaxaca City or simply Oaxaca (Valley Zapotec languages, Zapotec: ''Ndua''), is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state Oaxaca. It is the municipal seat for the surr ...

. In spite of the Mixe influence, the toponym is Nahuatl in origin, meaning "hot hill".

The town

The locals, called Totontepecanos, speak

Mexican Spanish Mexican Spanish ( es, español mexicano) is the variety of dialects and sociolects of the Spanish language spoken in Mexican territory. Mexico has the largest number of Spanish speakers, with more than twice as many as in any other country in ...

and the local dialect of the

Mixe language 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 (including one that is extinct). The four that are spoken in ...

. Each dialect of Mixe is different depending on the village in which it is spoken. According to the 2005 census, the town had a population of 5,626 people. The town's most notable feature is a rock that can be seen from nearly every location. They call it "La Mitra" (or

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...

, in English). It is located at the top of the mountain on which Totontepec is built. The locals will scale this mountain to light prayer candles and get a great view of their town. Totontepec is home to an unusual

landrace A landrace is a domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism, and due to isolatio ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

, locally known as "olotón", but more commonly described in the English-speaking world as "Sierra Mixe". This corn grows

aerial root Aerial roots are roots above the ground. They are almost always adventitious. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids (''Orchidaceae''), tropical coastal swamp trees such as mangroves, banyan figs (''Fic ...

s secreting sugary mucus to feed

nitrogen-fixing Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular nitrogen (), with a strong triple covalent bond, in the air is converted into ammonia () or related nitrogenous compounds, typically in soil or aquatic systems but also in industry. Atm ...

bacteria, fertilizing itself to thrive in the poor local soil in exchange.

The municipality

According to the 2005 Census, the municipality had a total population of 4,780, many of whom were proficient of an indigenous tongue. The municipality covers 318.95 km². As municipal seat, Totontepec has governing jurisdiction over the following communities: Chinantequilla, El Duraznal, Patio Grande, Rancho Alejandro Villegas, San Francisco Jayacaxtepec, San Marcos Moctum, San Miguel Metepec, Santa María Huitepec, Santa María Ocotepec, Santa María Tiltepec, Santiago Amatepec, Santiago Jareta, Santiago Tepitongo, and Tierra Caliente (Rancho Uno y Rancho Dos)

References

External links

Totontepec Villa de Morelos
''(Enciclopedia de los Municipios)''
Totontepec Villa de Morelos
(oaxaca.gob.mx) {{Authority control Municipalities of Oaxaca