PRACTICE/HOMEWORK: Investigate about a tribe of my country.

STUDENT: DANIEL CASTILLO DEL ANGEL. GRADE & GROUP: 10-C-IQPI

The Zapotecs

The Zapotecs are a pre-Columbian culture belonging to the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and
south of the state of Puebla. They were one of the most important pre-Columbian
civilizations in Mesoamerica. The name comes from Nahuatl and means people from the
clouds. They thought they came directly from the clouds as divine envoys of the gods.

Its largest settlement was Monte Albán, an architectural complex formed by stepped
pyramids. These pyramids are engraved in the stone with representations of the dancers
and ball games.

The Zapotecs devised two calendars to measure time, the first, Iza, had 365 days and was
grouped into 18 months. This calendar organization was used to control crops. The other
calendar they devised, Piye, had 260 days organized in 13 months, and was used to put the
names of newborns.

Zapotec nutrition foods

Farming

The vegetable and animal variety of the Mesoamerica area provided its inhabitants with
great food sources. In addition, the Zapotecs developed the cultivation of corn by creating
large fields.

The agricultural systems they used the most were the terrace system. In the valleys they
built dams and irrigation canals.

Its development of agriculture was one of the most extensive of the time and supported
many villages. This agriculture boom also helped develop its economy with the rest of the
villages.

The main tool they used for their crops was the sowing stick. This culture of planting allowed
them to develop corn, beans and squash, which were the basic products of their diet.

In addition other crops that produced, although to a lesser extent were bananas, chickpeas,
peas (peas), sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes), garlic and onions.

Other species that the Zapotecs also appreciated within their gastronomy were tomatoes,
chilacayotes (a kind of pumpkin), chayotes (in other cultures it is known as Chuchu), quelites
(edible wild herbs), pumpkin flowers and mushrooms. Fungi consumed them in any way,
whether they were edible or hallucinogenic.

Some varieties of tubers that complemented their diet were chinchayote (the root of the
chayotera), sweet potato (sweet potatoes), guacamote (yucca) and jicama (onion-like
tubers).
PRACTICE/HOMEWORK: Investigate about a tribe of my country.
STUDENT: DANIEL CASTILLO DEL ANGEL. GRADE & GROUP: 10-C-IQPI

To all these products they produced with their crops, we must add the amount of fruits they
collected from the trees, such as papayas, plums, pitayas, custard apples, wild grapes,
tamarind, guava, avocados and peanuts.

Another of the things that abounded in their diet, as in central and southern America, was
the use of cocoa.

With cocoa they made chocolate drinks, although they did not look like the ones we have
today but were bitter. They used chia seeds also to make drinks and oil.

Hunting

The Zapotecs were not only vegetarians, but they were also a hunting people that
complemented their diet with the characteristic animals of the region.

Proteins complemented the large amount of vegetables they obtained from the earth. The
most abundant animals in the area were small wild animals such as weasels, badger
toposm, raccoons ...

Birds also abounded like ducks. And they included in their diet animals that today seems
unthinkable as monkeys, armadillos, iguanas and snakes.

Customs and traditions

Day of the Dead

It is one of the most prominent Mexican celebrations of renown and that is internationally
recognized, but it is in the culture of the Zapotecs that it acquires its form and development
as it is the meeting of two worlds.

It appears in the annual cycle of the Zapotec religious calendar. It is born of the belief, in
which if a family nucleus fulfills the necessary rites, it is possible to reach the land of the
dead and visit them.

The Zapotec natives made offerings in consultation with the god "Centéolt", which was their
deity of tender corn and offerings, an act necessary to move to the "beyond."
"Guelaguetzas" are also sung, which are acts of cooperation. It should be noted that this
type of celebrations, countless dances are performed and shared with music, since it
represents a commemorative but cheerful day.

Guelaguetza

This is a celebration carried out by the Zapotecs, and it still remains in the cultural heritage
of the state of Oaxaca, here cults are held to different deities such as the Virgen del Carmen.

This celebration very typical of Zapotec cultures, of colonial influences. It is only done on
Mondays, since according to Catholic holidays it is the only day where it can be done.
PRACTICE/HOMEWORK: Investigate about a tribe of my country.
STUDENT: DANIEL CASTILLO DEL ANGEL. GRADE & GROUP: 10-C-IQPI

This celebration of the Zapotecs, also called Monday of the Hill, since it is held on the hill of
Fortín located in the center of Oaxaca, is considered by the inhabitants the largest party in
the state of Oaxaca.