The Mixteca Region is a region in the 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 Federative Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipaliti ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
, part of the broader
La Mixteca
La Mixteca is a cultural, economic and political region in Western Oaxaca and neighboring portions of Puebla, Guerrero in south-central Mexico, which refers to the home of the Mixtec people. In their languages, the region is called either Ñuu Djau ...
area which covers parts of the states of
Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
,
Guerrero
Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...
and
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 Federative Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipaliti ...
.
The region includes the districts of
Juxtlahuaca
Juxtlahuaca is a cave and archaeological site in the Mexican state of Guerrero containing murals linked to the Olmec motifs and iconography. Along with the nearby Oxtotitlán cave, Juxtlahuaca walls contain the earliest sophisticated painted art ...
,
Silacayoapam
Silacayoapam is a town and Municipalities of Oaxaca, municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Silacayoapam District in the Mixteca Region.
Town
Once part of the Coixtlahuaca state, after the Spanish conquest the town was ...
,
Huajuapan,
Coixtlahuaca
Coixtlahuaca ( Chocho: ''Nguichee;'' Mixtec: ''Yodzocoo;'' Nahuatl: ''Coaixtlahuacan'') was a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican state in the Mixteca Alta (now in Oaxaca, Mexico). Coixtlahuaca was a multi-ethnic polity, inhabited by both Chochos and ...
,
Teposcolula,
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 He ...
and
Nochixtlán. The largest cities are
Huajuapan and
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 He ...
.
According to the 1990 census the region had 556,256 people over the age of five, of which 227,680 spoke
Mixteco
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 ...
.
Handicrafts
The Mixteca produce diverse handicrafts including cups, masks, cotton and wool textiles such as towels, blankets, blouses, bags, belts, petticoats, embroidered shirts, cotton and wool shawls, reed baskets, furniture, candles, ceramics of different clays for different purposes, saddlery, rockets, knives, iron, grinding stones, brooms and fine palm hats. Women make the textiles and pottery in their free time.
Men are involved in blacksmithing, carpentry, cutlery and harness making, working at home.
Children begin to learn craft work about six years.
Because of its importance in the regional economy, the craftsmanship of palm products deserves a special reference.
Palms are used to make hats, mats, purses, toys, brooms, handbags and so on.
Social Organization
The Mixtec family is basically nuclear and patrilineal, although migration has influenced the family structure as men often spend long periods away from home.
Municipal authorities serve for one year only.
Judicial offices are held by the trustees and mayors, who serve as prosecutors and judges.
Farmlands are organized into
ejido
An ''ejido'' (, from Latin ''exitum'') is an area of communal land used for agriculture in which community members have usufruct rights rather than ownership rights to land, which in Mexico is held by the Mexican state. People awarded ejidos in ...
s and municipal properties, and smallholders have autonomy within these properties.
The Council of Elders is important in some villages, although in others it has practically disappeared.
See also
Achiutla
The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...
Pre-Columbian spiritual and cultural center.
References
Regions of Oaxaca
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