Land Ownership Makes All the Difference

The Valley of Oaxaca spreads out in three directions, made up of sub-valleys—the Valley of Tlacolula, the Valley of Ocotlán, and the Valley of Etla—each extend, respectively, about 30 miles east, south, and northeast of Oaxaca City. Most of the inhabitants in the Valley are indigenous Zapotec-speaking people. We have learned in some of our reading about land reform and ownership. For the Zapotecs, the opportunity to own and control their own land has made all the difference for their prosperity. I’ll try to explain.

Brief history: During the mid-1800s, Mexico’s Laws of the Reform forced the sale of nearly all church lands throughout the country. In most parts of Mexico, rich Mexicans and foreigners bought up much of these holdings, but in Oaxaca, isolated in Mexico’s far southern region, there were few rich buyers, so the land was bought at very low prices by the locals, most of them Zapotec farmers.

Moreover, after the revolution of 1910-1917, progressive federal land-reform law and policies awarded many millions of acres of land to campesino (farming) communities, notably to Oaxaca Valley towns.

The Signs of Health, Wealth and Control Within the Community: The signs of this wealth could be clearly seen in the villages we visited yesterday, Santa María deTule and Teotítlan de Valle.

Santa María deTule is a charming village at the edge of Oaxaca City built around a 2000-year-old Cyprus tree. We spent 45 minutes yesterday morning walking around this giant, mouths agape. It is an amazing tree and so grand, I could not get photo at any distance. The tree would not fit into my camera frame. The giant stands in a courtyard where gardens and pathways crisscross and the local and colorful catholic cathedral stands in its shadow. The dynamic of the huge tree and the local cathedral caused me to think about the cities in Europe and elsewhere that built the church in the center of town to be taller than all the other buildings as a symbol of God’s sovereignty and lordship. I suspect that when the cathedral was built in the 1700s, it was in fact, taller than the tree. That is no longer true. God made the tree and keeps growing it. Did God, in fact make the church, and does the church still grow? Interesting parable.

Teotítlan de Valle means “Place of the Gods” in Nahuatl; before that, it was know, appropriately, as Xa Quire (shah KEE ray) or “Foot of the Mountain” by the Zapotecs who settled it, archaeologists estimate, at least 2,000 years ago. From the age of artifacts uncovered beneath both the present town and at nearby sites, experts estimate that approximately 1,000 people were living in Teotilán by A. D. 400.

Present day Teotitlán people are relatively well off, not only from sales of their renowned tapetes (woven rugs, etc.), but from their rich communal landholdings. Besides a sizable swath of valley bottom farmland and pasture, which every Teotitlán family is entitled to use, the community owns a dam and reservoir and a small kingdom of approximately 100,000 acres of sylvan mountain forest and meadow, spreading for about 20 miles along the Valley of Oaxaca’s lush northeastern foothills (I copied this last part from the travel guide…sorry. Does anyone know what a “sylvan forest” is?)

We visited the town, saw the incredible tapetes and hiked around the dam and reservoir. I took so many photos, I cannot possibly include them all, but for all you knitters out there, you might be intrigued to find out that the wool is dyed with all natural dyes (example, their blue comes from the indigo plant which grows in the valley, yellow from the marigold flower, and the red, their most famous color, comes from a beetle that is indigenous to the area.) This red is the most vibrant red in nature that has been found. My mother dyed wool with natural dyes when I was young. I remember specifically how difficult it was to find a good and vibrant shade of red. The rugs are gorgeous. We are having one made for us and will pick it up in a month. The product is not cheap, but the quality is amazing. Anyone who visits Oaxaca should make a point of visiting these two wonderful pueblos…the travel guide says as much. We agree!