The Amuzgos are an Indigenous people of Mexico. They primarily live in a region along the Guerrero/Oaxaca border, chiefly in and around four municipalities: Xochistlahuaca, Tlacoachistlahuaca and Ometepec in Guerrero, and San Pedro Amuzgos in Oaxaca. Their languages are similar to those of the Mixtec, and their territories overlap. They once dominated a larger area, from La Montaña down to the Costa Chica of Guerrero and Oaxaca, but Mixtec expansion, rule and later Spanish colonization has pushed them into the more inaccessible mountain regions and away from the coast. The Amuzgos maintain much of their language and dress and are known for their textiles, handwoven on backstrap looms with very intricate two-dimensional designs. The Amuzgo area is very poor with an economy mostly dependent on subsistence agriculture and Mario guado handcraft production.
Name The Aztecs referred to them as Amoxco, the origin of the word Amuzgo. One interpretation has it meaning "place of books" probably referring to an administrative center which was then generalized to the people. Another states that it means "people of tin." Yet another states that it means "among mountains" which originally referred to one community and became generalized.
The endonym of the Amuzgo peoples varies by community. In San Pedro Amuzgos it is Tzjon Noan (meaning "people of the textiles or thread"), in Santa María Ipalapa it is Tzo'tyio, and in Suljaa' it is Nn'anncue (meaning "the people").
The Mixtecs call them Ñuuñama, which means "people of totomoxtle (dried corn leaves)."
Territory
The Amuzgo people are generally found in a region which straddles the border of the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, near the coast. The number of ethnic Amuzgos may be as high as 50,000, with about eighty percent living in the state of Guerrero. The Amuzgos are the largest Indigenous group in their region, which they share with Mixtecs and Nahuas as well as mestizos and Afro-Mexicans. The main Amuzgo communities (in order) include Xochistlahuaca, Tlacoachistlahuaca, Cosuyoapan, Zacoalpa, Chochoapan, Huehuetono, El Pájaro, Las Minas, Cerro Bronco, Guadalupe Victoria, Guajentepec, and Pueblo Nuevo in Guerrero with San Pedro Amuzgos and Santa María Ipalapa in Oaxaca. Xochistlahuaca, Tlacoachistlahuaca and Ometepec are from Nahuatl and mean "place of flowers," "place of tlacuache grass" and "between two hills", respectively. The Amuzgos refer to this area as Suljaa´. The municipal seat of Tlacoachistlahuaca is dominated by Amuzgos and mestizos with Mixtecs in the rural areas outside it. The Amuzgos in Oaxaca are one of a number of Indigenous groups found in small communities inside the Mixtec region.
Amuzgo territory is mostly found in the Yacuyagua mountains at elevations of between above sea level. The terrain is rugged with many ravines and small valleys. This area is traversed by the Ometepec, Arena, Pulla, San Pedro and Santa Catarina rivers, which empty into the Pacific. Vegetation is dominated by thickets of kermes oaks, with other species such as royal and coconut palms, with mixed forests in the higher elevations and some low grown rainforest closer to the coast. Many trees lose their leaves during the dry season. Wildlife consists of mammals, reptiles and a great variety of birds. Species include badgers, armadillos, raccoons, ocelots, coyotes, anteaters, porcupines, rabbits, parrots, owls and buzzards. The climate of the region is hot and relatively humid with defined dry (November to May) and rainy (May to October). The average annual temperature is .
The Amuzgos live in their region along with other ethnic groups such as the Mixtecs, Tlapanecs, Nahuas, Triquis, Chatinos, mestizos and Afro-Mexicans. Amuzgo relations with these groups are fluid and complex. With some they are strained, such as the Mixtec because of a history of domination and with the Afro-Mexicans who they associate with Spanish domination, accusing them of being executioners of Indigenous in the past and forcing them to the mountains. Most contact with outsiders is economic in nature with some social and occurs in regional centers such as Ometepec or in communities where there is close proximity. Despite the past domination, the Amuzgo in Guerrero are relatively dominant to the Mixtecs which are present in Tlacoachistlahuaca. However, they are dominated by the far more numerous mestizos.
History
The origins of the Amuzgos are unknown. One theory has the group arriving to its current location from the Pánuco River area, as well as the Mixtec, with whose language theirs is related. If this is the case, the Amuzgos passed through the Mexican Plateau area and Puebla before heading into Oaxaca and Guerrero. Amuzgo folklore states that they came to Oaxaca/Guerrero coast from islands out in the Pacific. Since their language is similar to others in the Oaxaca area, it is likely that they migrated to their current location on the northern edge of the Mixtec region to escape inter-ethnic violence.
Xochistlahuaca was the capital of an Amuzgo dominion. Around 1100, the Amuzgos were subjugated by the Mixtecs. The Amuzgos paid tribute to the Mixtecs for about 300 years in cotton, cloth, feathers, hides, gold, corn, beans and chili peppers. The area was part of a Mixtec province called Ayacastla, which the Aztecs subjuged in 1457, but they never exercised direct or complete control over the Amuzgos. The Amuzgos rebelled against the Aztecs in 1494 and between 1504 and 1507, which were suppressed.
The Spanish under Pedro de Alvarado subjugated the area in 1522. During the early colonial period, war, disease and overwork decimated most of the Indigenous population with the Amuzgos being one of only four ethnicities to survive. In Xochistlahuaca alone, the Indigenous population fell from about 20,000 in 1522 to only 200 in 1582. Spanish domination pushed them further into the mountains of the Sierra Madre del Sur, a process which had begun under Mixtec domination. Evangelization did reach them and in 1563, Xochistlahuaca was named an administrative and religious center, much as it was in the pre-Hispanic period. The evangelization and colonialization process gave rise to a number of traditional dances such as El Diablo, Los Chareos, Los Tlamaques, Los Apaches, Danza del Tigre, El Toro, La Tortuga, Los Gachupines, Los Moros, La Conquista, Los Doce Pares de Francis and Los Tecuanes.
During the colonial period, the Amuzgo area was governed by the city of Oaxaca (then called Antequera) which in turn was a sub province of Puebla. In the 17th century, it was part of the Chilapa diocese as part of the Puebla bishopric. The Spanish established large haciendas in the areas which remained after Independence until the Mexican Revolution.
The loss of Indigenous labor in Mexico prompted the Spanish to bring over African slaves, most of which arrived to Veracruz. Many escaped slaves and their descendants made their way to Amuzgo territory in the Costa Chica region, which had the effect of pushing the remaining Amuzgo away from the coast. The town of Czoyoapan was supposedly founded by Amuzgos who moved here from an area near San Nicolas, Guerrero, which became dominated by Afro-Mexicans. It is not known when it was founded by it appears in records as early as 1737.
During the colonial period until 1818, Igualapa was the capital of Ayacastla, which was then moved to Ometepec. In 1884, Xochistlahuaca lost its status as a religious center.
In the 19th century, most Amuzgo land wound up in the hands of the family of Guillermo Hacho, to which the Indigenous had to pay rent. In 1920, the Amuzgo began to fight to take back control resulting in the establishment of the Xochistlahuaca ejido in 1933 with 6,384 hectares. This ejido became the municipality of Xochistlahuaca in 1934. In 1967, the ejido was granted an additional 1,419 hectares of land for the growing population.
While Amuzgo communities have been traditionally isolated from the outside world, the construction of highways in the region has connected them. The two main highways in the region are Highway 200, Ometepec-Xochistlahuaca road, Oaxaca-Pinotepa Nacional road and the Huajuapan de León-Pinotepa Nacional road.
From the latter 20th century to the present, there has been migration of Amuzgos out of the territory to find work in other areas of Mexico and in the United States. This has even included permanent migration down into the Cuajinicuilapa area near the coast where Amuzgos were pushed out of in the pre-Hispanic and colonial periods.
Language
The Amuzgo language has various names in the language proper based on the dialect and community. This include Tzhonoa, Tzoñ'an, Tsañcue or Nañcue and ñomnda which means "water or sea language" referring to the Amuzgo's mythical origins. The Amuzgo language is part of the Oto-Manguean family, in the Mixtec subfamily. It is related to Triqui, Cuicatec, Chocho-popoloca, Mazatec, Ixcatec and Mixtec.
Four variants of Amuzgo are officially recognized by the governmental agency, Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas (INALI).Catálogo de las lenguas indígenas nacionales: Variantes lingüísticas de México con sus autodenominaciones y referencias geoestadísticas. . They are: (i) Northern Amuzgo (amuzgo del norte, commonly known as Guerrero or (from its major town) Xochistlahuaca Amuzgo); (ii) Southern Amuzgo (amuzgo del sur, heretofore classified as a subdialect of Northern Amuzgo); (iii) Upper Eastern Amuzgo (amuzgo alto del este, commonly known as Oaxaca Amuzgo or San Pedro Amuzgos Amuzgo); (iv) Lower Eastern Amuzgo (amuzgo bajo del este, commonly known as Ipalapa Amuzgo). These varieties are very similar, but there is a significant difference between western varieties (Northern and Southern) and eastern varieties (Upper Eastern and Lower Eastern), as revealed by recorded text testing done in the 1970s.Egland, Bartholomew & Cruz Ramos, 1983:8. As of 2005, census figures put the total number of Amuzgo speakers at 43,761, with 37,779 in Guerrero, 4,813 in Oaxaca and 1,169 in other places in Mexico. Amuzgo is the thirteenth-most common Indigenous language in Oaxaca. In Guerrero the use of the language is widespread enough to be learned as a second language by Spanish and Nahuatl speakers living in the Amugo area.Ethnologue report for Amuzgo, Guerrero, Ethnologue While many of Mexico's Indigenous languages are disappearing, the Amuzgo have maintained much of their linguistic strength with most children raised to speak it. They are also taught to read and write in the Amuzgo language. In areas where the primary schools do not have primary schools with Amuzgo-speaking teachers, loss of Amuzgo among children and problems with academic development do occur.
Culture
Amuzgo family life is based on both the nuclear and extended family, which is mostly patriarchal. Men generally marry at the age of 17 years with women marrying around age 15. Weddings are elaborate affairs, with food, alcohol and music. In the most traditional communities, marriages are still arranged between families without the children's participation. The family that proposes sets the wedding date and the pair meet at that time, as the families work to cement economic and social ties. The groom is expected to provide various gifts such as corn, beans, chili peppers, firewood, chocolate and money to make the bride's huipil. If the bride is a virgin the consummation of the wedding is celebrated with fireworks. If not, there is some tension. To hold special events such as wedding, baptisms, etc. and for large projects such as planting and building houses, friends and family will group to provide the needed resources.