Zapotec
Community of San Juan Yagila

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In today’s Rincón de Ixtlán, Yagila is an indigenous Zapotec village of about 350 inhabitants, with a communal territory of 16.4 km2, according to a 2008 community map made by the AGS Bowman Expedition Prototype México Indígena using participatory research mapping. The comunidad contains large areas of mature forest, which house enormous pine trees (Pinus chiapensis) that are currently being harvested as a primary source of income for the community.  A large Catholic church, for example – less than a year old – was financed with logging revenue.  The primary activity of villages, however, is agriculture and unsurprisingly maize is the dominant crop.


The entire territory is divided into “parajes,” which may have their origins as resting spots along important transportation routes.   Today however, these parajes are not specific points but rather relatively small, named areas with locally recognized (if not sometimes fuzzy) boundaries that completely cover the communal territory.  Yagila also houses important archaeological sites, including one ceremonial site with an elaborately carved stelae and another complex, known locally as Lachiga, with a pyramid over 10 meters tall.