Zapoteca - Native American people in Mexico . Settled in the state of Oaxaca and in some areas of the states of Chiapas , Guerrero , Veracruz . The number is about 450 thousand people. Religion is formally Catholic , but retains traditional beliefs. Zapotecs do not have a single ethnic identity, are mestizi, have long had contacts with the peoples of the Mihe, Sok, Huava , Chontal , experienced their influence.
Content
- 1 Name
- 2 Language
- 3 Genesis
- 4 Social organization
- 5 Religion
- 6 Culture
- 7 Famous Boots
- 8 See also
- 9 Literature
- 10 Links
Title
Initially, the name was an exo-ethnonym , which comes from the Aztec language and means "residents of the place where the zapot tree grows."
Language
Language - Zapotek , belongs to the Zapotek group of the Oto-Manga language family . Dialects: southern mountain, northern mountain, lowland.
In ancient times, the Zapotecs had their own Zapotec script (not decrypted). Nowadays, sapoteurs use the Latin alphabet based on Spanish spelling.
Genesis
The main occupations are irrigated agriculture ( maize , legumes , pumpkin , cereals , sugarcane , garden crops ), fishing, animal husbandry (large and small cattle, horses, pigs, poultry), crafts (leather, weaving).
Settlements (pueblo) are different: densely populated, with a densely populated center and adjacent farms, with a scattered layout. The dwelling is single-chamber, square, adobe, wooden, the roof is four-pitched, thatched. The kitchen is outside the house.
Clothing - the general Mexican type. Women tie their head with a scarf like a turban or a wide scarf that goes down to the shoulders.
Modern boots are employed in seasonal work on tobacco, coffee and sugar plantations, and are employed in the United States . A number of prominent figures in Mexico, for example, President B.P. Juarez, were of zapotec descent.
Social Organization
The basis of society is a small family. Relatives often settle in the neighborhood. Marriage - monogamous , patrilocal or neolocal .
Religion
Of the gods of the Zapotec known: Pitao Shoo , Kosaan and Wichaana, Kosiho-Pitao ("the great Kosiho"), Pitao-Kosobi , Pitao-Sih, Pitao-Pihi, Pitao-Shikala, Coca-lao, Pishey.
Culture
In everyday life and folklore, the influence of the traditions of the pre-Hispanic past is noticeable. There is a Zapotek hieroglyphic writing similar to that of the Olmecs and Mayans . Over 50 texts published . These are inscriptions on stone monuments, victorious steles and in funerary crypts.
Famous Boots
- Ramirez Perez, Ines - a peasant woman who made herself a cesarean section .
- Juarez, Benito Pablo - President of Mexico.
See also
- Olmecs
- Olmec culture
- Epiolmecs
- Teotihuacan
- Chichimeki
- Maya (civilization)
- Aztecs
Literature
- Peoples of the World , Historical and Ethnographic Handbook, ed. Yu. V. Bromley, M., 1988.
- Encyclopedia " Peoples and Religions of the World ", ed. V.A. Tishkova, M., 1998.
- Encyclopedia "Latin America", Volume 2, M., 1982.