Ethnohistorical Archaeology in Mexico Field School - IFR

Join us for an exciting 2020 field season on the Pacific Coast. Academic credits and scholarships available! See more at https://ifrglobal.org/program/mexico-pacific-rim/

Mexico: Oaxaca - Pacific Rim - Institute for Field Research

It's a wrap! To end the field school students gave amazing presentations about trade and language activism in Oaxaca! It was a pleasure to see their growth and knowledge from the last month used in their research! Institute for Field Research (IFR)

It was amazing to walk through the same church Friar Juan de Cordova lived in when he created the first Zapotec dictionary in Colonial Valley Zapotec! Institute for Field Research (IFR)

Yesterday the Coordinator of Research in Educational Linguistics at Cedelio, Salvador Galindo Llaguno, gave us a tour of the campus and an overview of the work indigenous students do to promote the use of their native languages in the education system in Mexico. He also gave us a presentation on biological and language diversity in Oaxaca and across the world. Teachers Esmeralda Yanely Zárate Hernández and Olivia Semíramis Contreras Saavedra also led us through an activity on the some of the different language groups of Oaxaca. Thank you for this knowledge CEDELIO!

At the Tehuantepec market students found banana leaf local to Tehuantepec, nicuatole made regionally in the isthmus, an onion grown across the state of Oaxaca, and a pop socket from China. This was a fun excercise about diversity in the market! Institute for Field Research (IFR)

Fridda Romero, a preschool teacher in Juchitan led us through a presentation on language revitalization today! She's been working on games such as "bingo" and "simon says" in Isthmus Zapotec for the schoolchildren she teaches. She's also been using strategies like singing Zapotec numbers and body parts to the rhythm of the ABC song and Mary Had a Little Lamb. We had so much fun playing and singing along! Thank you to Cedelio for inviting her and to her for coming on a Sunday afternoon! Institute for Field Research (IFR)

Today we had a workshop led by Victor Cata on gender diversity and the Zapotec third gender: Muxe. We were also able to make some papel picado, a workshop guided by Juan Celaya. Papel picado is usually made by the Muxes in Juchitan and are used as decorations for celebrations! Institute for Field Research (IFR)

Today we learned about Zapotec memes and other methods for language visibility and acquisition from Agustín Valdivieso Sánchez! Take a look at his content at Nanixhe & Guendanayahui. He also shared some homemade food with us which was prepared in a traditional Juchitec way. Institute for Field Research (IFR)