Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area was dominated by the Nahuas . Its one of the few places left in the city with Nahuatl speaking communities, with 4,007 people speaking an indigenous language . The use of Nahuatl is widespread in the borough, with the most concentrated in the towns of Santa Ana Tlacotenco, San Lorenzo Tlacoyucan and San Pablo Oztotepec. Ethnic Nahuas are found in all of the borough’s main towns. There are also efforts to preserve and promote the use of the language in the borough.