Mixe - History

History

The forefathers of the Mixe and Zoque peoples are thought to have been the Olmecs, the first high civilization of Mesoamerica . However the Mixes themselves do not associate themselves with the Olmec, but according to Mixe legend the forefathers of the Mixes came from the South American Andes and arrived in Mexico by boat. In the Mixe migration myth they came to settle at the holy mountain Cempoaltepetl—where led by the legendary king Condoy they built a successful kingdom. Almost nothing is known about the Mixes in prehispanic times as there are very few archeological remains in the Mixe area and written sources are equally scarce. It is known that neither the Zapotec kingdom of Zaachila nor the Aztec empire succeeded in subduing the Mixes completely.

After the Spanish conquest of central Mexico and the valley of Oaxaca a Spanish force under the command of Diego Sandoval was sent north to the Sierra Mixe to subdue the Mixes and Chinantecs of that region. The expedition failed and the Mixes remained unconquered. Hernán Cortés even mentions in his letters to the King of Spain that the provinces of the Zapotecs and the Mixes were the only ones to remain unconquered.

"In the whole territory, from one sea to the other, the natives serve without complaint, save for two provinces which lie between those of Teguantepeque, Chinanta, Guaxaca and Guazacualco, in the middle of all four; the people of these two provinces are called Zapotecas and Mixes. Their land is so rocky that it cannot be crossed even on foot, for I have twice sent people to conquer them, who were unable to do so because of the roughness of the terrain, and because the warriors are very fierce and well armed" Hernán Cortés, Fourth Letter to King Charles V

In 1555 the first peaceful contact between Spaniards and Mixes were undertaken when the Dominican order began the spiritual conquest of the Mixes. They built churches and missions in Juquila, Totontepec and Quetzaltepec. The Mixes still pride themselves of never having been conquered.