San Juan Cotzocón
| San Juan Cotzocón | |
|---|---|
| Municipality and town | |
 San Juan Cotzocón
|
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| Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |
| Country |  Mexico |
| State | Oaxaca |
| Area | |
| • Total | 945.4 km2 (365.0 sq mi) |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Total | 22,478 |
| Time zone | Central Standard Time (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | Central Daylight Time (UTC-5) |
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]
Contents
Environment
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]
People
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]
Economy
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]
