Juchitan, Oaxaca Endangered Language (Zapotec) and Poetry Project

This video is about helping to keep an ancient language — Zapotec — alive. This project is based in Juchitan, Oaxaca, in the Isthmus at the southernmost end of the state and is about preserving Isthmus-spoken Zapotec. It combines poetry, art, and film making. Thanks to reader Mary Ann Walsh for sending it our way! Zapotec has many different spoken variations or dialects. Villagers in the Oaxaca valley may not even completely understand each other because of linguistic differences. One thing is for certain, young people, as they migrate to cities for jobs or want to assume more “modern” ways, are giving up the language of their forebearers. Centro Cultural y Academico San Pablo in Oaxaca is also committed to language and culture preservation.