What does Cocijo mean?

lightning deity
Cocijo (occasionally spelt Cociyo) is a lightning deity of the pre-Columbian Zapotec civilization of southern Mexico. He has attributes characteristic of similar Mesoamerican deities associated with rain, thunder and lightning, such as Tlaloc of central Mexico, and Chaac (or Chaak) of the Maya civilization.

What was the Zapotec religion?

The religion of the Zapotec is Roman Catholic, but belief in pagan spirits, rituals, and myths persists, to some extent intermingled with Christianity. The compadrazgo, a system of ritual kinship established with godparents, is important.

What is Zapotec art?

Zapotec pottery has a natural form that often incorporates figures from the animal world and it’s believed to have been influenced by an earlier Pre-Columbian people called the Olmec. The Zapotec crafted grey-ware which is pottery made out of grey clay that was sometimes painted.

Who conquered the Zapotecs?

The Spaniards
The Spaniards conquered the Zapotecs of the central valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico, almost 500 years ago, in an earth-shattering series of events.

Is Zapotec a language?

The Zapotec /ˈzæpətɛk/ languages are a group of around 50 closely related indigenous Mesoamerican languages that constitute a main branch of the Oto-Manguean language family and which is spoken by the Zapotec people from the southwestern-central highlands of Mexico.

Was Oaxaca part of the Aztec empire?

Occupied by the Aztecs from the 15th century, Oaxaca subsequently was conquered by the Spaniards and officially designated a city by Hernán Cortés in 1529. Some of the city’s 16th-century art and architecture still survives, most notably in the Church of Santo Domingo, which includes Indian influences.

Is Zapotec a race?

The Zapotecs (Zoogocho Zapotec: Didxažoŋ) are an indigenous people of Mexico. The population is concentrated in the southern state of Oaxaca, but Zapotec communities also exist in neighboring states.

Are Zapotec Aztecs?

The name Zapotec is an exonym coming from Aztec Nahuatl tzapotēcah (singular tzapotēcatl), which means “inhabitants of the place of sapote”. The Zapotec referred to themselves by some variant of the term Be’ena’a, which means “The People.”