Mixtec

And then once you get to live in a city, what makes you stay there and what are the trade-offs? And what's the environmental bargains, I guess, that city you live in? And I work these issues in a place.

It's the highlands of Oaxaca in this Mixtec region, which if you go there today, it's a very rural community.

And they say the biggest expert of the Mixteca right now, it's its people.

A lot of people are not finding economic opportunities and they move into Mexico City or the U.S. And yet this was a place that was one of those cradles of urbanism and complex societies for thousands of years.

So I'm interested to learn how the same region that today sends its people out to find other opportunities.

It means that there are a lot of people in Fresno for whom English is not their first language.

They might speak Spanish, or they might speak Mixtec, Triqui, indigenous languages of Mexico with many variations.

It also means that standard English-speaking American-owned media like radio and TV can't reach or engage these communities effectively.

And when your voice isn't part of a conversation, your community is not a part of the story.

And I'm wondering, over the last however many years you've been at this, is there someone who offered you a piece of advice that you sort of still carry with you in, in your heart, in the front of your mind?

Well, you know, it's been hard.

And, and, and, you know, I grew up in, in a Mixtec village in, [laughs] in, in Oaxaca until the age of nine.

You know, no running water, no electricity, no radio, no TV, uh, you know.

Sure.

The museum does note that although the stylization of the features of the skull is in general accord with other examples accepted as genuine Aztec or Mixtec carvings, the overall appearance does not present an obvious example of Aztec or any other Mesoamerican art style.

And it's also different than the rest of the skulls.

None of the skulls are identical, but this one's a lot different.

They are famous today for carving enormous stone heads.

Later civilizations included the Maya, Zapotec, and Mixtec, and many others.

The Maya built pyramids.

They did.

Mexico isn't one single culture.

There are dozens of indigenous people, regional identities, languages, foods, dances, and traditions.

Spanish is spoken by most people, but Mexico recognizes 68 indigenous language groups, including Nahuatl, Maya, Mixtec, and Zapote.

How do you say goodbye in Spanish? You already

But I study Mesoamerica in general, which is the whole area of pretty much northern Mexico, the deserts of northern Mexico, down into northern Central America.

And so, you know, that area also includes cultures like the Mexica, who are more commonly known as the Aztecs, Zapotecs, Mixtecs, these people.

And one of the most famous ones are what are called the Colima dogs.

You might have even seen pictures of these, and I can definitely share some to show your...

And these snails are very interesting because they're part of the Murex family, and they give a dye, they give a purple dye.

The Mixtec are this tribe that, from recorded history, they've been using these snails to make purple dyes.

And I wanted to know if maybe we could be able to use these snails one day to make treles.

Why? Because you don't have to kill them.

Today, the latest census counted 650,000 people identifying as Zapotec.

Their neighbors, the Mixtecs, number about 800,000.

Both of those numbers are probably low.

As I often say, Mexico's indigenous people are suspicious of government census questions.

The histories of the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs are very intertwined.

But for this episode, we'll focus on the Zapotecs.

I'll do the Mixtecs in a future one.

How long have the Zapotecs been in Oaxaca? At least 3,000 years.

20th century highland Maya tradition retains a demon called Cipac, a hill near Rabinal, Guatemala, elongated and compared locally to a crocodile, is named Sepak and is sometimes identified with the buried figure.

Mixtec screenfolds, including the Codex Vindabonensis, link the crocodile day to dynastic origins.

A separate Aztec tradition uses Teosapacli, divine crocodile, for a flood survivor who escapes in a canoe and takes part in repopulating the earth.

Among the Huastec, one underworld lair is called Cipactlan, Place of Cipactli, where the monster helps support the earthly plane.

Its hybrid form and art combines crocodile, fish, serpent, and sawfish traits.

Its narrative function is to supply matter for earth and sky at the cost of an ongoing ritual debt.

Its range as an idea runs from Olmec settlements through the Aztec capital to Mixtec dynastic books and Maya epics.

Its modern afterlife is cultural, carvings still in place, dances, films, games, local hill names, and fringe UFO theories.