The Cuicatecs are an
Indigenous people
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
of
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. The Cuicatecs traditionally speak the
Cuicatec language and are closely related to the
Mixtec
The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are Indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica of Guerrero, Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerre ...
s. Alongside the Trique and Mixtecan, the Cuicatecs form one branch of the Otomanguean language family.
They inhabit two towns in the state of
Oaxaca
Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...
:
Teutila and
Tepeuxila. According to the 2012 census, they number around 12,785, of whom an estimated 65% are speakers of the language.
The name Cuicatec is a
Nahuatl
Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...
exonym
An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...
, from 'song' 'inhabitant of place of'.
[Campbell 1997:402)]
References
External links
Cuicatec peopleon ILV México.
{{Authority control
Indigenous peoples in Mexico