Zapotec
Zapotec Youth Gets Harvard Scholarship
A young Zapotec man has gotten a scholarship to attend Harvard University, an achievement that fosters pride among the people in his community, more widely in Oaxaca state, and among Mexicans in general. According to a news report on May 24, the 23-year-old scholar, Ramiro González Cruz, is from San Isidro El Costoche, in the […]
The Zapotec Overcome the Pandemic
Jeffrey Cohen, an anthropology professor at the Ohio State University, updated in a published article on February 12 an earlier blog post describing the ways the Zapotec have been coping with the pandemic. That post was summarized here on August 21, 2020. His update further amplifies his observations of last year. Cohen observes that when […]
The Zapotec Treasure their Traditions
For years, the major research interest of Jeffrey H. Cohen, an anthropology professor at the Ohio State University, has been the culture of the Zapotecs in Mexico’s Oaxaca state. But travel restrictions due to the pandemic prevent his normal summer of fieldwork there, so he published last week a very accessible article to bring his […]
A Zapotec Village Meets the Spirit of Gandhi
A nonprofit business flourishing in a village of Mexico’s Oaxaca state is inspired by traditional Zapotec values and the ideals of Mohandas Gandhi. A story in Yes! magazine last week describes the revival of the traditional spinning culture of the village, its adoption of effective business practices, and the influence of the Mahatma. The story […]
Zapotec Adjust to Coronavirus
The New York Times ran a news story on April 3 about the Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle and the fact that the community, which is famed for its artisans, has not yet reported a case of coronavirus. The primary source of information for the indigenous people in the community to learn about the […]
Zapotec Migration North
The migration by Zapotec farmers to find work north of the Mexican border is now fostered as much by global climate change as it is by other economic factors. A 2,400-word article published in the National Observer, a Canadian news website, on Monday last week explains the nature of the migration, its causes, and, most […]
Silver Mine Upsets a Zapotec Town
Opposition by Zapotec people in the town of San José del Progreso to a polluting and destructive silver mine dates back more than ten years. The violence in the town, located south of Oaxaca City in southern Mexico, was described in news stories in 2012. Leaders of the Zapotec protests were murdered left and right […]
Oaxaca Prints on Display in Santa Fe
The Hecho a Mano gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is hosting a show featuring Zapotec print makers from Oaxaca City, Mexico. The owner of the gallery, Frank Rose, is determined to foster more interest in New Mexico for the print making folk art of Oaxaca. On October 20, the Albuquerque Journal published an enthusiastic […]
Francisco Toledo Obituary
The life and work of the Zapotec artist Francisco Toledo, who died September 5, were celebrated by an obituary in the Independent last week. According to Harrison Smith, who wrote the article, Toledo was a leading Mexican painter, sculptor, photographer, engraver, and tapestry designer. He also was a passionate defender of Oaxacan indigenous traditions. He […]
Mexico Still Reveres Benito Juarez
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the President of Mexico, showed his admiration for the great Zapotec statesman Benito Juarez on July 18 by honoring the Mexican hero on the 147th anniversary of his death. According to a Mexican news story, it was the first time in 113 years since that had been done. AMLO, as he […]
