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Yaxchibonam

Dec 1, 2009, 8:39 PM

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Zapotec-Mixtec-Mixe

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I'm looking for information, observations, experiences, and book reference suggestions about the cultural and historical relationships and unique characteristics of these indigenous groups in Oaxaca. From what I understand, the Zapotec culture, even though they gave up their power to the Mixtecas at one point, are the dominant culture in the valley, the Mixtecas live in the mountains to the west, and the Mixes in the mountains to the southeast, correct? I'm interested in how these three groups interact, and fit within the present cultural and political situation in Oaxaca. Do they compete with each other? Do they cooperate? Any information, anecdotal or otherwise, would be much appreciated. Is there a local, English speaking indigenous (or otherwise) expert on the subject that I might look up?
Thanks,
Yaxchi

Vichil

Dec 2, 2009, 1:23 PM

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Re: [Yaxchibonam] Zapotec-Mixtec-Mixe

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You seem to be missing the Aztecs and the Spaniards..... Go and watch the Danza de la Pluma and find out about the story it may answer some of your questions.

Yaxchibonam

Dec 2, 2009, 4:59 PM

Post #3 of 5 (2898 views)

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Re: [Vichil] Zapotec-Mixtec-Mixe

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Yeah, I'm missing a lot of things like my old pick-up truck and an aptitude for math. But actually, I want to exclude all that Aztec-Spanish stuff for now and just look at these three groups and how they interacted (and still interact) in Oaxaca. But I'll look into that Plume Dance.
Gracias para ayudarme.
Yaxchi

Vichil

Dec 3, 2009, 7:02 AM

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Re: [Yaxchibonam] Zapotec-Mixtec-Mixe

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I do not think you understand the importance of the Danza. It is still a 3 year religious cargo in Teotitlan and some other villages in the valley. It is a symbol of what happened to the Zapotecs ans Mixtecs you are so interested in. It makes it a cross cultural dance as the Spanish and their gods were added to it.
The Mixes were not involved as they were not conquered byt the Spaniards.
The Mixtecs from Culiapan de Guerrero perform it as well.
The Danza de la Pluma (the feather dance) was taken from an old Zapotec warrior dance. It was used by the military school of Zaachila to train the young warriors in agility and endurance. It is very difficult to learn and perform. It takes the dancers at least 6 months of training up to 8 hours a day. I saw the first class and the young men were falling all over themselves trying to learn the first 3 steps.
The Danza is performed for 10 hours straight and is grueling physical exercise.
Although fierce enemies, the Mixtecs allied themselves with the Zapotecs to fight the Aztecs and Spaniards and it is the story of the mixing of the cultures.
The dance as it is performed today comes from Culiapan(speL?) de Guerrero which is a Mixtec town. One of the prince from there had married a Zapotec princess...
The dance is still regarded by some of the eldersas an important part of their history and they transmit it to the young generation as part of their sacred tradition.
I met a fascinating old lady in Chiapas who was writing about Maya medecine and had studied and written a thesis about the Danza de la Pluma. She is an anthropologist from UNAM in DF so if you are interested you can find people at UNAM who wrote about the relation between Mixtecs and Zapotecs. I am not sure if anyone included the Mixes but I am sure you can find out about it with a little searching.
You cannotunderstand a culture if you do not know and understand their history.

(This post was edited by Vichil on Dec 3, 2009, 7:31 AM)

Yaxchibonam

Dec 3, 2009, 10:50 AM

Post #5 of 5 (2837 views)

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Re: [Vichil] Zapotec-Mixtec-Mixe

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Thanks for the information! Sounds like you've had a grumpy couple of days though. Hope you're feeling better.
Yaxchi