ZAPOTEC INDIANS OF MEXICO

THEY SPEAK OTO MANGUEAN LANGUAGE OF MEXICO. ACTUALLY THEY ARE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 12 AND 60 ZAPOTEC LANGUAGES. THERE ARE AT LEAST 400,000 SPEAKERS IN MEXICO.

THE ZAPOTEC WERE THE LARGEST INDIAN GROUP OF OAXACA FROM 800 BC TO 1600 AD. THE ZAPOTECS WERE SEDENTARY AND HAD PEOPLE WHO FARMED AND WORSHIPPED MANY GODS THEY HAD A FERTILITY GOD AND SERPENT SYMBOLS IN THEIR CULTURE. THEIR LEGEND WAS THAT THEY HAD BEEN BORN DIRECTLY FROM ROCKS, TREES, AND JAGUARS. THEIR PRIESTS HIERARCHY REGULATED RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES WITH SOME HUMAN SACRIFICES. THEY WORSHIPPED THEIR ANCESTORS. THEY HAD AFFINITIES WITH THE OLMEC AND THE TOLTEC. BY 200 B.C. THEY WERE USED A BAR AND DOT SYSTEM FOR MATH USED BY THE MAYA. TH MIXTECS WERE FROM THE NORTH, REPLACED BY THE ZAPOTECS AT MONTE ALBAN.

BY THE 15TH CENTURY THEY KEPT THE AZTECS FROM GAINING CONTROL OF THEIR CITIES IN CHIAPAS AND GUATEMALA. UNDER THEIR KING, COSJUEZA THE ZAPOTECS WITHSTOOD A LONG SIEGE ON THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

BY 1521 WHEN THE SPANISH ARRIVED THEY CHANGED EVERYTHING IN THE VALLEY OF OF OAXACA. WITH THE SPANISH CONQUEST THE ZAPOTECS MOSTLY WERE TRANSFORMED AS CATHOLIC LIVE IN THE MOUNTAIN VILLAGES IN THE ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC OR MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES.

THEIR WEAVING TRADITION DATES FROM PRE-HISPANIC TIMES. ZAPOTEC CULTURE DOMINATES LIFE IN TEOTITLAN WHICH MEANS MAGICAL PLACE. TODAY THERE ARE A WIDE VARIETY OF TAPATES AND SERAPES IN THEIR MARKETPLACE. MONTE ALBAN IS THE PRIMARY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE WHERE ZAPOTEC HISTORY HAS BEEN UNEARTHED.

THEY DEVISED SOPHISTICATED SYBBOLS THAT ARE MESOAMERICA'S EARLIST WRITING SYSTEM. THEIR THEMES INVOLVE POWER AND HISTORY. THEIR SYBOLISM ALLOWED THEM TO EXPRESS THEIR IDENTITIES AND REFERENCE THEMSELVES TO TIME AND SPACE. POWER IS ILLUSTRATED WITH CLOTHING ADORNMENTS AND POSTURES, AS WELL AS WEARING MASKS AND HEADDRESSES. PRIESTS WEAR THEM. ZAPOTEC ART FLOURISHED - PRODUCING CARVED STONES, CERAMICURNS, PAINTED MURALS, STUCCOED SCULPTURES AND BONES AND STONE. THEY DEVELOPED A 260 DAY CALENDAR. THEIR TIME WAS CENTERED ON A 260 DAY CALENDAR- A RITUAL CALENDAR. SOLAR CALENDERS FROM PRE-HISPANIC TIMES ARE STILL USED TODAY. BY WEARING A MASK THEY GOT MORE POWER.

URNS WERE USED FOR MORTUARY RITUALS. COCJO, THE RAIN GOD, WAS A CLASSIC URN. ZAPOTEC URNS REPRESENTED POWERS OF GODS. SOME SYMBOLS REPRESENTED CERTAIN POWERS.

THEY SELL RUGS, FROM MANY WEAVERS. THEY USE ONLY NATURAL DYES. THEY HAVE A COOP OF WEAVERS WHO FORMED TO BRING BACK THE ANCESTRAL TECHNIQUE. THEY SHARE IDEAS, TECHNIQUES, AND NEW DISCOVERIES. IT TAKES COMMITMENT AND TIME TO USE NATURAL DYES. THEY SPIN AND DYE YARN THAT THEY BUY AND WEAVE ON LARGE FLOOR LOOMS. THEY HAVE TO CLEAN IT FORST IN THE RIVER.

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