Totontepec Villa de Morelos (

Totontepec Mixe Totontepec Mixe, called North Highland Mixe in Wichmann (1995), is a Mixe language spoken in Mexico, in the town of Totontepec Villa de Morelos, Oaxaca. Phonology Mixe phonology is notable due to its complex system of vowel duration contrast ...

: ''Anyukojm'') is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, in the

Sierra Mixe The Sierra Mixe or Mixes District is a district in the east of the Sierra Norte Region of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It comprises 17 municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corp ...

district of the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

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 ...

. It is located 1,840 meters above sea level and 146 kilometers from the

state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital city, capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals *List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population *List of national capitals by area *List of ...

, Oaxaca de Juárez. The toponym "Totontepec" is of

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 ...

origin, meaning "hot hill". In the local dialect of Mixe the town is called ''Anyukojm,'' meaning "place of thunder."

The town

The locals, called Totontepecanos, speak

Mexican Spanish Mexican Spanish () is the variety of dialects and sociolects of the Spanish language spoken in Mexico and its bordering regions. Mexico has the largest number of Spanish speakers, more than double any other country in the world. Spanish is spo ...

and the

local dialect Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

of the

Mixe language The Mixe languages are languages of the Mixean branch of the Mixe–Zoquean language family indigenous to southern Mexico. According to a 1995 classification, there are seven of them (including one that is extinct). The four that are spoken in ...

. Each dialect of Mixe is different depending on the community in which it is spoken. According to the 2010 census, the town had a population of 1,801 people. The town's most notable feature is a rock that can be seen from nearly every location. In Spanish it's called "La Mitra" or "La Peña del Trueno," and in Mixe "''Anyukääts''." It is located at the top of the mountain on which Totontepec is built. The locals will scale this mountain to light prayer candles and get a great view of their town. Totontepec is home to an unusual

landrace A landrace is a Domestication, domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural Environment (biophysical), environment of agric ...

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

, locally known as " olotón", but more commonly described in the English-speaking world as "Sierra Mixe". This corn grows

aerial root Aerial roots are Root, roots growing above the ground. They are often Plant development#Adventitious structures, adventitious, i.e. formed from nonroot tissue. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids ('' ...

s secreting sugary mucus to feed

nitrogen-fixing Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular dinitrogen () is converted into ammonia (). It occurs both biologically and abiological nitrogen fixation, abiologically in chemical industry, chemical industries. Biological nitrogen ...

bacteria, fertilizing itself to thrive in the poor local soil in exchange.

The municipality

According to the 2010 Census, the municipality had a total population of 5,598, with 98.3% of the inhabitants older than five years of age speaking an indigenous language. The municipality covers 318.95 km². As municipal seat, Totontepec has governing jurisdiction over the following communities:

San José Chinantequilla San José Chinantequilla is a Mexican community by the state of Oaxaca, in the municipality of Totontepec Villa de Morelos located in the Mixe people, mixe district, is located in the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca, sierra norte. It was founded by migrants ...

, El Duraznal, Patio Grande, Rancho Alejandro Villegas, San Francisco Jayacaxtepec, San Marcos Moctum, San Miguel Metepec, Santa María Huitepec, Santa María Ocotepec, Santa María Tiltepec, Santiago Amatepec, Santiago Jareta, Santiago Tepitongo, and Tierra Caliente (Rancho Uno y Rancho Dos)

References

External links

Totontepec Villa de Morelos
''(Enciclopedia de los Municipios)''
Totontepec Villa de Morelos
(oaxaca.gob.mx) {{Authority control Municipalities of Oaxaca