Oaxaca today

In Oaxaca people preserve their Zapotec and Mixtec culture through art and dance.  A few examples are shown on this post.

Sharing a laugh with Don Artemio who makes arte de lata or tin can art.

There always seemed to be parties and parades in Oaxaca.  These kids preserve their Zapotec culture with the Danza de la Pluma or feather dance.  There are more photos of the parade below.

Zapotec culture is not only seen in traditional dances, but also in visual arts, such as the pottery and textiles seen below.

A Zapotec Artisan polishing the barro negro.

Instead of a pottery wheel, he uses one bowl on an upside-down bowl to spin the black mud.  Only individuals who have successfully completed the usos y costumbres, or community service, can mine this black mud to make pottery in the Zapotec community.  

A women doing a folkloric dance of the Zapotecs while holding a piece of barro negro, or black pottery.

This is a crushed bug, called a cochineal,  that was taken off a cactus.  These beetles are crushed and then used as a natural dye.  

This video explains some of the natural dyes.

I bought this naturally dyed tapete directly from Dona Juana who made it.  

This video shows me buying grasshoppers in the market.

This video shows me eating the grasshoppers. Yum!

Different types and sizes of chmapulines (grasshoppers) in the market.

Thanks for reading my travel blog and thanks for Fund for Teachers for making this all possible.