A visit to the Central Valleys and the Land of the Ayuuk, southern Mexico.
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| Land of the Ayuuk: about 1,800 m. or 5,940 ft. elevation, Sierra Mixe, southern Mexico. |
Introduction:
In recent posts, I wrote about my experience of road travel along the amazing Ruta Panamericana. Until now, I had travelled on segments of it in five countries, the USA, Canada, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Chile!In this post I will tell you about my latest experience in the sixth country where the Ruta Panamericana goes. It is about travel along this great highway system to the eastern part of the Central Valleys and the highlands of Sierra Mixe in the State of Oaxaca, southern Mexico.
Incredibly, the Mixe, the indigenous people who inhabit Sierra Mixe, call themselves the Ayuuk, the people who speak the mountain language (Wikipedia) ( Juan de Dios Gomez Ramirez, 2013)! For me, this could suggest a cultural or linguistic link to the Gitxsan (also spelled Gitksan) at northwestern BC, Canada. For the ayuukw is central to the culture of the Gitxsan. The ayuukw (also spelled ayuk, ayuuk) is the name for the Gitxsan legal order!
The State of Oaxaca possesses the greatest biodiversity and cultural diversity in Mexico. The state is exceptionally rich in plant and animal species. What is more, it has the largest indigenous population in the country. This indigenous population has made the State an outstanding example globally for its terrenos comunales (communal lands or commons), legally owned and managed by indigenous communities (Robson, 2010)( Juan de Dios Gomez Ramirez, 2013).
During the late afternoon of February 15'14, I paid a 200 peso deposit to reserve a seat for a day tour along Ruta Panamericana. At this part of Mexico, it is called Carretera Internacional or Federal Highway 190. Although the tour agent did not advertise the tour as a trip along the Ruta Panamericana, this is how I was to understand the experience.
Soon after I paid the deposit, I joined a meeting of colleagues from Latin America. A member of the delegation cheerfully told me she had booked the same tour for 200 pesos through an agent near City Centre. For awhile, I felt frustrated that I did not shop around to understand the tour market too.
The Tour:
My tour was to visit seven places of interest in the Tlacolula district of the Valles Centrales (English: Central Valleys) and the Sierra Mixe (see khaki colour on the map below) or Mixes District: a giant tree, 'petrified water falls', a famous Zapotec, indigenous, religious complex preserved as an archaeological site, a tour of a Mezcal distillery, lunch, and a visit to a wool carpet workshop and sales outlet. |
| Regions and districts in the State of Oaxaca (Source: Wikipedia) |
For me, the tour was to begin at my hotel, the Hotel Misión De Los Ángeles. Its location is within walking distance of the Oaxaca city centre.
Viajes Quetzal Tour Operadora, the tour agent, has an office at the hotel. Therefore, Hector, the tour agent, could easily arrange for a GMC Suburban to wait at the hotel entrance.
At 10 AM, Hector, the helpful guide and driver, departed the hotel on schedule. Then we travelled through the city to Federal Highway 190.
Our first goal was to visit el Árbol del Tule (Spanish for The Tree of Tule). As we carefully drove eastwards, Hector talked about the giant tree. Fortunately for me, Hector spoke very good English.
Morning traffic flowed smoothly. So, the 10 kilometre trip to Santa Maria del Thule went by very quickly.
At Santa Maria del Thule, Hector allowed 30 minutes to view the Árbol del Tule.
A plaque at the tree had facts about it. The scientific name for the tree is Taxodium mucronatum. The common name for it is the Montezuma Cypress. It is the world's largest tree in terms of its 14.05 meter diameter at its base. The tree, still fertile, is thought to be 2,000 years old!
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| The Thule Tree stands in a church yard. |
The 30 minutes flew by! Then I had to meet the driver. He drove to the edge of town. Then we changed vehicles. A new driver/guide took over for the next leg of the trip. Some new members of the tour were in his vehicle.
The second tour guide did not give an over-view of the day at all. The briefings he gave during the tour were very poor.
However, using GPS readings taken with my Garmin pocket GPS, the names of key places of interest, photographs, and further research when I returned home to Canada, I have been able to piece to together this story.
Mezcal, the most important spirit in Mexico:
The Mezcal El Rey de Matatlan, the Mezcal King of Matatlan distillery was our next destination. The driver/guide explained all phases of the process as we walked around the distillery. He did a good job explaining the process.The tour guide knew a lot about how Mezcal is made. I filmed key parts of his presentation. As a result, I referred to my videos and to the distillery website for this part of the post.
Agave is sacred to indigenous peoples of Mexico. Every single part of the plant was used for some practical purpose. After the arrival of the Spaniards in Mexico, agave was used to make mezcal.
Agave plants are harvested when they are six to eight years of age. The leaves are cut from the plant. The large hearts or "piñas" are put into palenques, conical pits, in the ground. Then they are baked for five days. This step gives mezcal a strong smoky flavour.
The baked piñas are then crushed with a large stone wheel. The crushed piñas are now called bagasse. This crushed mass is then fermented for three to 15 days with natural yeasts. The guide invited us to taste the bagasse. Yes, indeed, I found it to be sweet!
Then the fermented juice goes through a distillation process. The final step involves ageing in wooden barrels for two months to eight years.
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| The Mezcal King of Matatlan distillery. |
According to the tour guide, mezcal is the most important spirit in Mexico. It is used during celebrations. Some Mexicans say mezcal connects the body to the soul.
Then the guide invited us to taste the mezcal. I asked for the best spirit made at the distillery. The young woman poured me eight-year old mezcal. It was smooth with a smoky taste. So I bought one bottle of it to take with me to Canada.
We climbed into the vehicle at noon. At the edge of town, a white Ford, nine-passenger van waited for us. We switched vehicles. San Pablo de Mitla was our next destination.
San Pablo Villa de Mitla:
Within 30 minutes, we pulled into San Pablo Villa de Mitla. Its population of 11,219 makes it the same size as Prince Rupert, BC, or Terrace, at northwestern BC, Canada. The guide drove us to the northern edge of San Pablo Villa de Mitla.Without any explanation, the guide announced that we must pay a 40 peso admission fee before we left the Ford van. I looked around and saw an outdoor market. I thought to myself, "Why should I pay to enter a market? There is free entry all over the world!" In anger, I quietly decided not to pay an admission fee. Instead, I decided to take a walk to do some sight seeing.
Before I left the tour group, I asked the guide, "When do you want us to meet back at the van?" "At 1 PM" he replied.
I walked about 50 meters away from the market. A stone cobble courtyard appeared before me. It was very hot. It felt like 35 to 40 Celsius.
Across the courtyard, a large church stood at the edge of the courtyard. It is called the Church of San Pablo. The main entrance was open. The soft sounds of people in prayer and singing drifted across the cobble stones to me.
It was Sunday. A midday Mass was underway.
I thought about my mother back in Canada. She had a serious heart attack four months ago. I felt compelled to offer prayers and the mass to her health.
I entered the arch way of the church. Then I walked slowly into the coolness of the church. Unlike churches in northwestern BC, the church was full.
About one-third of the people in the small city speak an indigenous language (Wikipedia). That is why so many of the church goers looked like indigenous people to me!
There was a empty seat at end of the bench at the last row. I walked quietly to it. I sat down beside a young indigenous man.
The church goers sang and prayed aloud in Spanish. Their focus on the religious celebration was powerful. Yet, their humble and quiet ways was a wonderful welcome to me.
The church was decorated with many statues. The sixteenth century, colonial statues of saints (Wikipedia), were far different from other churches I have seen in Canada. Strangely, a statue of a man laid in a coffin with glass sides.
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| Mass at the Church of San Pablo. |
Time slowed right down. My frustrations dissipated. I was pleased that I was doing something important and positive for my mother.
At 1 PM the mass was over. So I quickly returned to the van about 100 meters from the church.
Shortly after 1 PM, we departed San Pablo de Mitla. A short distance from town, the tour van began its winding ascent through the Sierra del Norte. A narrow mountain highway leads to Hierve del Agua. A small scale map of our route appears below:
I couldn't believe it! This is how I missed visiting the second most important archaeological site in the State of Oaxaca! Once again feelings of frustration came over me.
When I returned to Canada I did some research about the site.
The Zapotec complex consists of a palace with decorative fretwork. "A fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background" (Wikipedia). What is more, the site contains the largest number of Zapotec cultural artifacts found in the State according to Wikipedia.
Ayuuk:
The word, ayuukx, in the Gitxsan language, means to get dressed. However, ayook, means the law in Gitxsan.
I did not hear the Mixe language spoken. So, I am not sure how it compares to the Gitxsan. Nevertheless, the similarity of the English alphabet's way of attempting to say the word suggests some kind of connection to me.
Ayuuk (Mixe) Villages:
The van continued its ascent into the mountains. Soon the road narrowed. Many curves made travel slow as we began travel through Mixe country. Every few minutes the van was forced to slow down to 5-10 km/h to navigate over large speed bumps.
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| No police on the roads but speed bumps everywhere! |
Thatched roofs protected farm houses. Some houses had flat roofs. The occupants piled vegetation on the flat roofs for drying in the sun.
Laundry hung from clothes lines. Some women hung their wash from barbed wire fences at the edge of small plots. A few houses had old, derelict vehicles parked in front. We were passing through the mountainside during the hottest time of the day, thus, the villagers were at siesta.
Soon we passed through San Lorenzo Albarradas.
Poverty is a driver for migration all around the world. Indigenous members of Sierra Mixe migrate to urban areas and to the United States. This migration has taken place since the 1970s. However, it was especially prevalent from 1995 to 2010 (Robson, 2010).
As a result, the autonomous, customary systems of governance and indigenous knowledge systems have become weaker. It is a more difficult struggle for cultural survival in smaller communities (Robson, 2010).
Current Political Systems of the Indigenous Peoples of Oaxaca:
In Oaxaca, there are 570 municipalities, almost 25 % of Mexico's total. A Council governs through an elected system of political parties or through the system of Customs and Traditions. Such traditions have been practiced since remote times by indigenous peoples ( Juan de Dios Gomez Ramirez, 2013).
The Constitution of Mexico recognizes this system of Customs and Traditions. It is sometimes referred to as a "System of Positions." Young people begin by doing their "Community Service" or "holding positions." They take such positions when they are married at the age of 16. Alternatively, they can assume positions when they reach the age of 18. Some children aged 10-12 years become acolytes to assist with the duties of the Catholic Church. Such designations are made by the citizens or Community General Assembly. This is the supreme authority in the community ( Juan de Dios Gomez Ramirez, 2013).
The Cultural Landscape of Sierra Norte:
Throughout the highlands of this part of Sierra Norte, forests cover the landscape to the north of the highway. In Sierra Norte, the Zapotec, Chinantec and Mixe indigenous communities control the forests through some 70 communal properties.However, the villages we passed were were predominately Mixe (17 municipalities) (Robson, 2010). After all, we were in Sierra Mixe.
The forests serve a multitude of purposes. Protection, timber extraction, and the use of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) create a multi-use, cultural landscape.
Local farmers have used neither pesticides nor hybrid seed. Thus, the survival of a variety of native domesticated and wild plants is promoted. After regaining control of their communal forests during the mid-1980s, some highland communities process timber products (Robson, 2010).
Thus, scholars say that Mexico and Oaxaca have become world leaders in community forestry. No other place in the world possesses its scale and maturity of community forestry (Robson, 2010).
'Petrified waterfalls':
At 3:10 PM, we arrived at a toll gate. A sign on the toll booth had this message:"Por orden de la autoridad ejidal se le comunica que el paso a hierve el agua es de 10 pesos por person a para mantenimiento del camino 4 km."
In English it means:
"By ejido authority by telling you that the way to boil water is 10 pesos per person for a 4 km road maintenance."
Therefore, the 'petrified water falls' were within an ejido. According to Mexico's 1917 Constitution, "ejidos form a system of inheritable communal lands assigned by the federal government to landless campesinos of varying ethnicities" (Robson, 2010).
As a result, the 'petrified waterfalls' were not under the control of the Mixte alone.
The driver stopped to pay the toll. Then we drove slowly the last four km to the 'petrified waterfalls.' It was 3:30 PM.
When I stepped out of the van, the intense rays of the sun immediately made me feel hot. I checked my shoulder bag to make sure it still had a bottle of water in it. Then I began walking down a picturesque trail to the "cascada chica," the small waterfall.
The small 'petrified waterfall' is like a smooth, rounded cliff surface. It cascades more than fifty metres down to the valley floor. Four springs flow from its sixty meter wide platform at the top of the cliff (Wikipedia).
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| "Cascada chica," the small waterfall at 1.7 km elevation. |
I stopped to look at a spring with a metal fence around it. The water bubbled but it did not steam like boiling water. In the large pool which had bathers in it, I put my hand into the water, however, it was cold. The bubbling makes it look like it boils but in fact it does not. That is why this location is called the place where the water boils.
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| The large "waterfall" at Hierve el Agua. |
We were given 50 minutes to sight see. As usual, the time passed very quickly. Soon, I had to begin walking up hill to the van.
We departed at 4:15 PM. In about 30 minutes, we were back on the paved highway heading back down to the valley bottom.
The guide drove recklessly. I sat at the back of the van. We were tossed from side-to-side as the guide raced down the hill around corners too! Fortunately, there was no traffic on the highway. And his reckless pace lasted for about 10 maybe 15 minutes. At the time I was taking photos so I did not confront the driver.
Today, I realize I made a big mistake in not confronting the driver/guide to make him slow down. This travel firm will have to stop this kind of behaviour before its too late. So, I have vowed never to let this happen to me again during my travels.
El colibri Carpet workshop:
Soon we arrived at Teotitlan at 5:20 PM. A few minutes later, we drove up to the El colibri carpet workshop. I knew this stop was going to be a commercial or sales visit but I still went in to the workshop.
The owner showed us how they spun wool and worked the loom. It took a lot of time and work to pass just a single, wool thread through the loom.
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| El colibri carpet workshop. |
Then he began displaying his carpets. I was taken by a rug with a modern fish design. I asked the proprietor, "How long did it take you to make this rug?" "Four to five weeks for one this size," he replied.
Before long, I bought a 31 inch x 55 inch decorative rug. After
travel through the poorest area of Mexico, I did not feel like bargaining at all. Now, I still hope I did better than making the same kind of purchase on eBay at home!
Concluding thoughts:
The highway standard of the Pan-American Highway in southern Mexico was a little lower than the Pan-American Highway that I travelled in Nicaragua. Unlike the Nicaraguan segment, it traverses through a very mountainous part of Mexico. The elevation of the valley floor of the Valles Centrales is 5,500 feet above sea level. So, the mountainous terrain would be more expensive and difficult for highway construction. Still we could travel in comfort on a smooth, asphalt paved surface.Indigenous people govern the Sierra Norte. Thus, from my Canadian First Nation perspective, it would be intriguing to take a closer look at how the indigenous people of Sierra Norte's ownership and jurisdiction protects their common, traditional territory.
The Land of the Ayuuk in southern Mexico fascinates me. Just as the Ayuuk of the Gitxsan indigenous people of northwestern BC, Canada, fascinates me. Perhaps, this legal concept and practice of the Gitxsan has a connection to Mesoamerica!
In my 25 years of work and a lifetime with the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en, I have never heard local experts of the customs and traditions of the Gitxsan speak of such a connection. Maybe just maybe there is a connection long ago that was severed by volcanoes and glaciers. Yet, this connection could still find expression in their genetic heritage, their current DNA.
On Valentine's Day, I went on a field trip to Sierra Ixtlan, the western part of Sierra Norte. Our delegation visited an indigenous, community-based forest enterprise. This experience will give me a better perspective of indigenous governance of the commons in Oaxaca.
Nonetheless, the Ruta Panamericana in southern Mexico opens an awesome landscape to visitors. My awe and wonder about Mesoamerica has increased dramatically after the visit. What is more, the incredible biodiversity and cultural diversity of this State makes a visit in this part of Mexico and unforgettable experience to cherish for a life time!
References:
Ramirez, Juan de Dios. (2013). Biodiversity and the Native Peoples of Oaxaca-a brief cultural guide, Xoxocotlan, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Robson, J. P. (2010). The impact of rural to urban migration on forest commons in Oaxaca, Mexico, University of Manitoba.
Photos:
All the photos were taken by myself, Larry Joseph.
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