San Juan Cotzocón | |
---|---|
Municipality and town | |
Coordinates: 17°10′N 95°47′W / 17.167°N 95.783°W | |
Country | Mexico |
State | Oaxaca |
Area | |
• Total | 945.4 km2 (365.0 sq mi) |
Population (2005) | |
• Total | 22,478 |
Time zone | UTC-6 ( Central Standard Time) |
• Summer ( DST) | UTC-5 ( Central Daylight Time) |
San Juan Cotzocon is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Sierra Mixe district within the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca Region.
The name "Cotzocón" or "Cozogón" means "Dark Mountain". [1]
The municipality covers an area of 945.4 km². The territory is rugged, with grazing and cultivation of coffee and corn practiced only the lower irregular plains. The Chiquito River runs through the northern part, a tributary of the Rio Grande. The climate is warm and humid, with rain almost all year round. The forested areas contain pine, cedar, and ceiba. [1]
As of 2005, the municipality had 5,030 households with a total population of 22,478 of whom 10,712 spoke an indigenous language. The main town is now María Lombardo de Caso, located at a height of 140 meters above sea level. Although in a Mixe area, many of the people in this town are Mazatec or Chinantec who moved here after being displaced by the Miguel Alemán Dam in the 1960s. [1] In the 1950s the remote municipality, accessible only via dirt track, drew visitors from the USA investigating use of hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms in the traditional Mixe ceremonies. [2]
The main economic activity is coffee cultivation, followed by livestock raising. [1] Some of the Mixe women of the village of San Juan Cotzocon use back strap looms to weave traditional huipil, rebosos, napkins, table cloths and other textile crafts. [3] The Union of Indigenous Communities of the Isthmus Region, a cooperative founded in 1982, assists in production and distribution of the local products, notably coffee, under a fair trade label. [4]