Villa de Tututepec de Melchor Ocampo is a town 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 ...

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 ...

in south-western

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

History

Before the arrival of Spanish, the area was occupied by a small

Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...

kingdom, established in 357 AD, when Prince Mazatzin arrived from

Tilantongo Tilantongo was a Mixtec citystate in the Mixteca Alta region of the modern-day 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. Its Mixte ...

. Upon climbing a mountain full of seabirds, Prince Mazatzin decided to found his capital in this beautiful location, calling it “Yucu – Saa”, or "Bird mountain" in the

Mixtec language The Mixtec () languages belong to the Mixtecan group of the Oto-Manguean language family. Mixtec is spoken in Mexico and is closely related to Trique and Cuicatec. The varieties of Mixtec are spoken by over half a million people.2000 census; t ...

Tututepec Tututepec is a Mesoamerican archaeological site. It is 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 (ca. 12th to early 16th centuries). At i ...

served as a

capital under

Eight Deer Jaguar Claw Eight Deer Jaguar Claw ( mix, Iya Nacuaa Teyusi Ñaña ), or 8 Deer for brevity, was a powerful Mixtec ruler in 11th century Oaxaca referred to in the 15th century deerskin manuscript Codex Zouche-Nuttall, and other Mixtec manuscripts. His surn ...

, maintaining its independence despite coming under attack from the

Aztecs The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

between 1483–1519. When the conquistador

Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; c. 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of the Yucatá ...

arrived March 3, 1522, he defeated Tututepec's warriors, who fought under Cuaxintecutli (Venerable Lord Serpent). Cuaxintecutli died from torture on March 22, 1522. In April 1522, Hernán Cortés moved the Villa de la Segura de la Frontera to Tututepec, and installed Gutierre de Badajoz as the first mayor.

Geography

Tututepec is part of the

Juquila District Juquila District is located in the center of the Costa Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, on the Pacific coast. It has an area of 5,055 km2. As of 2005 it had a total population of 134,365 of whom 33,106 spoke an indigenous language. Eco ...

in the center of the

Costa Region The Costa Region or Costa Chica lies on the Pacific coast of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, south of the more mountainous Sierra Sur inland from the coast. It includes the districts of Jamiltepec, Juquila and Pochutla. Climate The region has a tro ...

. The name "Tututepec" means "Bird Mountain". The municipality covers an area of 1,249 km² at an average altitude of 280 m above sea level, lying on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca. The climate is hot and humid. Flora include palmera, cotton, coffee, citrus, melons, bananas, lemon, hibiscus. Fauna include iguanas, deer, snakes and lakes with abundant fish. The municipality includes the large

Lagunas de Chacahua National Park The Lagunas de Chacahuan National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Lagunas de Chacahua), created in 1937, is a national park located in the Municipality of ChineseVilla de Tututepec de Melchor Ocampo in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, about 54 km we ...

and the archaeological site of Villa Segura Tututepec.

Demographics

As of 2005, the municipality had 9,397 households with a total population of 40,767 of which 2,144 spoke an indigenous language,

Tututepec Mixtec Tututepec Mixtec is a Mixtec language The Mixtec () languages belong to the Mixtecan group of the Oto-Manguean language family. Mixtec is spoken in Mexico and is closely related to Trique and Cuicatec. The varieties of Mixtec are spoken b ...

. 90% of the population is engaged in cultivation of fruits such as watermelon, cantaloupe, papaya, hibiscus, and banana. Many of the people also engage in small-scale animal husbandry, and some make pots, jars, beads and blouses.

Culture

Champurrado Champurrado is a chocolate-based ''atole'', a warm and thick Mexican beverage. It is prepared with either '' masa de maíz'' (lime-treated corn dough),'' masa harina'' (a dried version of this dough), or corn flour (simply very finely ground d ...

, a traditional

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

-based

atole ''Atole'' (, from Nahuatl '' ātōlli'' ), also known as ''atolli'' and ''atol de elote'', is a traditional hot corn- and masa-based beverage of Mexican origin. Chocolate ''atole'' is known as ''champurrado'' or ''atole''. It typically accomp ...

drink, is considered a symbol of Mixtec culture. It was served at a ceremony commemorating the 1656th anniversary of the municipality, with a blessing of food, thanks to mother earth, and a traditional

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

of thanksgiving. A caravan of bicyclists and other guests of honor inaugurated the opening of an exposition of artisan handicrafts and local cuisine, along with a book fair.

Gallery

File:Palafito y manglar Chacahua Mexico.jpg, Stilt house on Chacahua lagoon File:Chacahua Pier.jpg, Pier in Cacahua lagoon File:Chacahua surf Vico.jpg, Surfer in Cacahua lagoon

References

External links

* , (in Spanish) {{Authority control Municipalities of Oaxaca