Chatino

Infobox ethnic group
group=Chatino
"Kitse Cha'tño"
poptime=Mexico:approx 23,000
popplace=Mexico (Oaxaca)
rels=predominantly Roman Catholic
langs=Chatino, Spanish
related=Zapotec

Chatino is the Spanish name of an indigenous people of southern central Mexico, and also of their language, the Chatino language. Chatino communities are located in the southeastern region of the state of Oaxaca. Speakers of Chatino are numbered around 23,000 (Ethnologue surveys), but ethnic Chatinos may number many more. They call themselves "Kitse Cha'tño" and their language "Cha'tña".

Chatino populations are found in the following Oaxacan municipalities, mostly in the area around Juquila: Santos Reyes Nopala, San Juan Quiahije, San Miguel Panixtlahuaca, Santiago Yaitepec, Santa Cruz Zezontepec, San Juan Lachao, Santa María Temaxcaltepec, Santa Catarina Juquila and Tataltepec de Valdés.

The region that the Chatinos inhabit is rich in natural resources. However, most Chatino people are involved in agriculture, which depends very much on the climate, so some Chatinos have to emigrate to the corners of the district of Juquila to work on coffee plantations. Most Chatino communities have public services, and there are runways for airports in many municipalities. Federal bilingual schools, high schools, and "telesecundarias" (distance education programs for secondary and high school students) have been established.

The traditional authorities of this people are organized in a system based on civil and religious roles, in which advice from elders is treated as the greatest authority. They believe in the Holy Grandmother, the Holy Father God, the Holy Mother Earth, and the Holy Mother Moon. In addition, they worship the deities of water, wind, rain, the mountain, and fire.

Chatino language

Chatino language is an indigenous Mesoamerican language, which is classified under the Zapotecan branch of the Oto-Manguean language family. The Chatino have close cultural and linguistic ties with the Zapotec peoples, whose Zapotec language is the other member of the Zapotecan languages.

According to Ethnologue, there are some seven distinct dialects of Chatino, which exhibit varying degrees of mutual intelligibility.

External links

*es icon [http://www.cdi.gob.mx/ini/monografias/chatinos.html Chatinos, Instituto Nacional Indigenista] - Ethnographic description of the Chatino people