El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-30

~ EHUANTEPEC. Mex. March So
There are SO languages and dia-
lects spoken in Mexico. 50. of
them belonging to the indian races OF
of the country. The linguistic charac-
teristics of these different tongues
vary as widely as Chinese and English,
as French and Russian So too, do
the races differ in their habits. man
ners. customs and appearances Here
IN Tehuantepec one may see the best
examples of the Clearly Zapotec in
dams, who are well dressed and at
tractive, while in Mexico City one be-
holds as filthy and bedraggled lot
of natives as human imagination can
picture
The Tribe of Juarez.
The Zapotec indians are among the
most interesting of all the tribes in
Mexico They have given TO the coun-
try some of its best leaders. Benito
Juarez, called by some the Abraham
Lincoln Of Mexico. was full blooded
Zapotec. President Diaz is closely re-
lated to the Zapotecs. his mother hav-
ing been the child OF Spanish father
and a pure breed Mixtec indian mother.
The Mixtecs belong TO the same gen.
eral family, and live IN the same terri
tory. The city of Tehuantepec. peopled
almost entirely by Zapotec indians, is
one of the most remarkable and pic
turesque communities in the entire re-
public The women form the bulk Of
the population. Some estimate that the
proportion of women to men is five to
one because of the wars that have
taken place in the past and the num-
Der of men who were killed. The
women transact the business of the
community, and the city market is al
ways blaze of color during market
hours.
Fond of Gay CoIors.
The upper part of their costume is
an oriental looking jacket, cut very
low at the neck and with short sleeves
1t is usually made Of polka dot goods.
with the dots as large as an American
quarter The skirt is a replica OF
the Malay sarong, and consists Of
loop of cloth several yards long Dor
dered at the hem. brought snugly
around the hips and tucked in at the
waist line They wear bright red or
yellow silk handkerchief wound CO.
quettishly around the head Some OF
the older women wear head dress
called the huipil. a white linen affair
which is sometimes worn as an exag-
gerated Elizabethan ruff. AT other
times it is worn in such a way that 1t
gives the wearer the appearance OF
being arrayed in the bonnet and plume
OF an American 1nOl2n cn1eI.
The time to see the Tehuantepec wo-
men at their best is upon a feast day
At such times they tog themselves in
fineries of such striking hues as TO
shame a Mexican rainbow. Their IA
vorite jewelry is a chain of five or
ten dollar gold pieces, and the posses
sion Of one of these chains is suffi-
cient evidence of thriftiness 10 pass
them into the best society of the city.
Every American writer who visits Mex
leo endeavors to go TO Tehuantepec-
Last year, the government entertained
a body of American newspaper men
here. A special party was given in
their honor and some Of the native wo-
men danced with sober minded writer's
from Washington. New York and other
cities
Men Shun Work.
The principal trait OF the men OF
Tehuantepec is their determination not
to be seen at work. They go out into
the country. grow their little patch
of corn, and then gather it. 1t then
devolves upon the women to market
the produce and to manage the finances
Of the home. In this quaint old indian
city there lives venerable Canadian
by the name of Woo1rich, who has
been here for 53 years He is the old
est American resident in southern
Mexico and one Of the characters OF
the country. He tells many interesting
stories nlustrat tive Of the habits and
manners of these people and says the
advent of the Tehuantepec railroad has
served to take away much of the pic=
turesuueness of the city. Upon one
occasion he wished to have some sol
dering done, and asked the sflversmltn
of the community to execute the work
for him. The artisan said he would
do the work but would be unable to