Nahual Institute for Global Studies

Summer Program Mixtec Language and Culture: May 21th to June 11th, 2010

Application Deadline: December 21, 2009

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Mixtec Language and Culture

Join the Nahual Institute for Global Studies on a unique educational and cultural experience with the Mixtec people of Oaxaca, Mexico. From 1940 to 1980, the Mexican government’s national "integration policy" was imposed on the country’s Indigenous peoples. Seeking to "unify" the language and culture of all Mexicans, the government permitted educational instruction only in Spanish, and Indigenous peoples were punished and ridiculed for speaking their native languages. This caused a tremendous deterioration of all native languages throughout the country. Indigenous people, forced to speak only Spanish, lost their ability to speak Mixtec. Since 1980, Indigenous movements critical of the government’s assimilationist policies have appeared on the national and international scene, demanding respect for their cultures and languages, as well as political and economic autonomy.

In 1990, a number of Mixtec community members living in the towns surrounding Oaxaca expressed an interest in having workshops to re-teach the Mixtec language in communities where the language had been lost. Dozens of community meetings and
workshops were held in the Mixtec speaking regions of Mexico (Oaxaca, Puebla, Guerrero) to discuss the linguistic history and geography of the Mixtec language.
Out of these actions, the Mixtec Language Academy was created, based in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca. Here, you will receive intensive Mixtec language instruction by native Mixtec speakers who are professors at the university level. The program includes four hours
of classroom instruction, four days a week, given by the founders of the Mixtec Language Academy. To enhance the language learning experience, the program includes visits to open markets, artisan centers, local Mixtec villages, and cultural celebrations.

Courses Offered

Mixtec Language

Receive beginning-level Mixtec language instruction
Learn the history of the Mixtec language academy
Learn about the development and evolution of the language reclamation process
Visit bilingual Spanish-Mixtec elementary/middle schools

Mixtec History, Culture and Migration

Learn about the pre-Columbian history of the region/visits to archeological sites
Examine the struggle to maintain cultural traditions and ethnic identity
Experience local festivals and celebrations
Learn about rites of passage in the Mixtec culture
Learn about women’s struggles and gender identity in the Mixtec Culture
Study the effects of the global economy/immigration on Mixtec people & culture

Guest Speakers and Field Trips

Artists from the Rufino Tamayo School of Art
Grassroots community organizers
Members of the Rosario Castellanos Women’s Center
Linguists from the Mixtec Language Academy
Mixtec and Zapotec priests/priestesses
Bilingual Spanish-Mixtec elementary/middle schools
Fair trade cooperatives
Indigenous marketplaces and villages
Colonial and ancient Indigenous ruins

About Oaxaca

The state of Oaxaca is located in southern Mexico and is one of the most beautiful regions of the country, with lush rainforests, beaches and mountains. With one of the largest Indigenous populations in Mexico, Oaxaca is populated by 15 distinct
Indigenous language groups, of which the Mixtecs and Zapotecs are the most prominent. In 1987, UNESCO declared the colonial capital, Oaxaca City, a World Heritage Site. During the colonial period, Oaxaca was the second largest center in New Spain, evident today in the magnificence of its churches and monasteries. The mixture of Indigenous and European cultures is still seen in the work of the region’s goldsmiths, potters, artists, chefs and musicians, as well as in its exuberant fiestas and colorful markets.

Homestay and Location

You will spend two weeks living with host families in Oaxaca city. When on excursions away from the city of Oaxaca you will stay in a hotel accompanied by Nahual Institute staff. Oaxaca City is a Spanish-colonial city of narrow streets, lovely cafes, art galleries, museums and superb colonial architecture. The atmosphere is at once relaxed and energetic, remote and cosmopolitan. Oaxaca is known for its exquisite hand woven tapestries, wood carvings and pottery. In the center of town is the zócalo, or central plaza, and the cathedral. Nearby is Santo Domingo Church, the most splendid of Oaxaca's churches. There are many fascinating places within day-trip distance of the city, notably the ruins at Monte Albán, Mitla, Yagul and Cuilapan.

Faculty

The Mixtec Language and Culture Program in Oaxaca is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Nahual Institute for Global Studies, the Mixtec Language Academy and the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (CIESAS). The program courses are team-taught by faculty from United States and Mexican universities.

Marcos Abraham Cruz Bautista M.A., a native of San Juan Mixtepec, is licensed in Ethno-linguistics and holds a Master’s degree in Education from the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Mexico. He is a professor in the Mixtec Bilingual Program at the
Universidad Pedagógica Nacional in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, and is one of the founders of the Mixtec Language Academy.

Juan Julian Caballero, M.A., a native of San Antonio Huitepec, Oaxaca, is licensed in Ethno-linguistics and holds a Master’s degree in Education from the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Mexico. He is a doctoral student at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands, a professor and researcher at CIESAS (Centro de Investigación y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social) in Oaxaca, and one of the founders of the Mixtec Language Academy.

Ignacio Ochoa, M.A., a native of Quirigua, Guatemala, is adjunct faculty at the Center for Latin American Studies and the International Security and Conflict Resolution Program at San Diego State University (SDSU). A former Jesuit scholar from Central America, he holds Master’s degrees in Latin American Studies and Philosophy, and has worked in Indigenous, rural and refugee communities in Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico. Mr. Ochoa has taught courses at San Diego State University, the Harvard University School of Business, Northeastern University, and the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA).

Margarita Dalton, Ph.D., is an author and the Director of CIESAS-Istmo (Centro de Investigacion y Estudios Superiores en Antropolgía Social) in Oaxaca. Dr. Dalton did her undergraduate Studies at the Legon University in Ghana and has completed her
graduate studies in History and Anthropology at Barcelona University in Spain.