Editing Zapotec peoples (section)

==Culture==

===Language===
{{Main|Zapotec languages}}
[[File:Zapotecos.png|thumb|right|250px|Map showing the location of the Zapotec Civilization, developed in the Pre-Columbian Era in Mesoamerica.]]

The Zapotecan language group is composed of over 60 variants of Zapotecan, as well as the closely related [[Chatino language]]. The major variant is [[Isthmus Zapotec]], which is spoken on the Pacific coastal plain of Southern Oaxaca's [[Isthmus of Tehuantepec]].

===Religion===
{{See also|List of Zapotec deities}}

Though the Zapotecs are now largely [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholics]], some of their ancient beliefs and practices, such as the burial of the dead with valuables, still survive. Some images of local Catholic saints resemble the old gods of the Zapotecs. One example is of San Pedro who resembles the Zapotec rain god Cocijo.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Human: The Definitive Visual Guide |publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |year=2004|isbn=0-7566-0520-2|editor-last=Winston|editor-first=Robert |location=New York |pages=364}}</ref> The first missionaries among the Zapotecs were [[Bartolomé de Olmeda]], a [[Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy|Mercedarian]], and Juan Díaz, a [[secular]] priest, who was killed by the natives in [[Quechula]] near [[Tepeaca]] for having "overthrown their idols".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=MacEarlean, A. A.|title=[[s:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Zapoteca Indians|Zapoteca Indians]] |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |year=1913}}</ref>

Notably, while the Virgen de Guadalupe is a notable Catholic figure in most of Mexico and Latin America, the Virgen de Juquila is a Catholic Marian devotion founded in the town of Santa Catarina Juquila, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Many Zapotec Catholic people participate in an annual pilgrimage to visit the statue during festivities lasting from December 7 to December 9.

At the time of the Spanish conquest of the New World, church and state were not separate in Zapotec society. In fact, the Zapotec lord was trained in religious practice as a requirement prior to taking power. There were large temples built called ''yo hopèe,'' the house of the vital force, in which the priests performed religious rites. In the spiritual realm the ''pè'', or life force, lived within various natural elements including wind, breath and was believed to be the spirit, or vital force, of all beings. The priests, known as ''Copa pitào,'' who were mostly selected from the nobility, were provided their religious training before taking a position among the religious hierarchy. Commoners were also selected and trained to join the priesthood, but they were only allowed to join the lower ranks. The highest position was held by the ''ouija-tào,'' great seer, who was likened to the Pope in the Catholic church by Spanish accounts of the sixteenth century.<ref>Marcus & Flannery ''Zapotec Civilization'' 1996</ref> However, the ouija-tào did not live in Monte Alban, but rather in one of the other urban centers of the Zapotecs in the sub-valley area of Mitla. As a polytheistic religion, the Zapotecs attributed several elements of the natural world to their gods. In the religious practice of the Valley Zapotecs, the primary god was ''Pitao Cozobi'' who was associated with maize and agriculture. Other gods include, ''Cocijo'' the god of rain and lightning (similar to the [[Toltec]] god, [[Tlaloc]]); ''Pitao Cozaana'' the creator of man, animals and the god of ancestors; ''Pitao Hichaana'' the goddess of man and animals as well as children, also considered the Mother goddess; ''Pitao Pezelao'' god of the underworld, death, and the earth; ''Copijcha'' the Sun god and god of war; ''Pitao Xicala'' god of love, dreams, and excess.<ref>Whitecotton, Joseph ''The Zapotecs: Princes, Priests, and Peasants'' 1977</ref>