Zapotec

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Zapotec

The Zapotec are an indigenous people of Mexico. Their language group, also called Zapotec, consists of more than fifteen languages.

Location

The Zapotec people are centered in Oaxaca, to the south of central Mexico. In Pre-Columbian times they were one of the major Mesoamerican civilizations. Archaeological evidence shows their culture goes back some 2500 years. They left archaelogical evidence at the earlier and impressive ancient city of Monte Albán; in the form of buildings, ball courts, magnificent tombs and grave goods including finely worked gold jewelry. Monte Albán was the first major city in the western hemisphere and the center of a Zapotec State that dominated much of what we know of as the current state of Oaxaca.

Technology

The Zapotecs developed a calendar and a logophonetic system of writing that used a separate glyph to represent each of the syllables of the language. This writing system is considered to be the basis of the other Mesoamerican writing systems developed by the Maya, Mixtec, and Aztec civilizations. At the present time, there is some debate as to whether or not Olmec symbols dated to 650 BC are actually a form of writing preceding the oldest Zapotec writing dated to about 500 BC. ^*

In the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, there were Zapotec and Mixtec artisans who fashioned jewelry for the Aztec Tlatoanis, including Motecuhzoma II. Relations with central Mexico go back much further however, as attested by the archaeological remains of a Zapotec neighborhood within Teotihuacan and a Teotihuacan style "guest house" in Monte Albán. Other important Pre-Columbian Zapotec sites include Lambityeco, Dainzu, Mitla, Yagul, San Jose Mogote, and Zaachila.

Religion

They had an elaborate religious system, they where very attached to their religious calendar cycle od 26 years. Unlike the Aztecs, there is no proof that human sacrifices were offered. They were polytheistic people. Principal deities included the rain god Cocijo, the equivalent of Tlaloc of the Aztecs.

Mexican conquest

The last battle between the Mexicas ("Aztecs")and the Zapotecs occurred between 1497 and 1502, the Aztec king Ahuizotl asked her daughter Coyolicatzin, to betray her husband. Before the attack, Princess Coyolicatzin warns King Cocijoeza and once again, the Aztecs are ambushed in the valley of Shadani. At the time of conquest of Mexico, when news arrived that the Aztecs where wiped out by the spaniards, King Cosijoeza orders not to confront them ro avoid the same fate They were visited by the Spanish only after several campaigns between 1522 and 1527, not submitting finally until 1551. They were a sedentary culture and well-advanced in civilization, living in large villages and towns, in houses constructed with stone and mortar. They recorded the principal events in their history by means of hieroglyphics, and in warfare they made use of a cotton armour. The well-known ruins of Mitla have been attributed to them and were claimed to be the tombs of their ancestors.

The Zapotec call themselves always by some variant of the term "The People" (Be'ena'a). The implications of this term are many: 'THE people of this place,' 'The true people,' 'Those who didn't come from another place,' 'Those who have always been here.' In fact, both scientific evidence and the origin myths about Zapotecs demonstrate a great antiquity in Oaxaca for the Zapotec and their precursors.

"The People" tell that their ancestors emerged from the earth, from caves, or that they turned from trees or jaguars into people, while the elite that governed them believed that they descended from supernatural beings that lived among the clouds, and that upon death they would return to such status. In fact, the name by which Zapotecs are known today resulted from this belief. In Central Valley Zapotec "The Cloud People' is "Be'ena' Za'a."

The Zapotec today

There are approximately 300,000 to 400,000 Zapotec people living in Mexico today. Many of them still speak only their native language. Though they are now largely Catholics, some of their ancient beliefs and practices, such as the burial of the dead with money, still survive. The first missionaries among the Zapotecs were Bartolomé de Olmeda, a Mercedarian, and Juan Díaz, a secular priest, who was martyred by the natives in Quechula near Tepeaca for having "overthrown their idols".

The most famous Zapotec person in modern times was Benito Juárez, generally regarded as Mexico's greatest President.

Many people of Zapotec ancestry have emigrated to the United States over several decades, and they maintain their own social organizations in the Los Angeles, California area and Central Valley.

References

External links

The Zapotecs
Zapotec Culture (in English and Spanish)
Zapotec Language (including variants, in English and Spanish)

Mesoamerican cultures | Native American tribes | Pre-Hispanic cultures of Mexico | Indigenous peoples of Mexico