Oaxaca, Mexico

Why Oaxaca?

Oaxaca has approximately 3,506,821 people, and about 1,091,502 of its population speak an Indigenous language. The state is home to fifteen constitutionally recognized Indigenous tribes and five linguistic families from which approximately 176 linguistic variables derive. It is also worth noting that besides having one of Mexico's largest Indigenous populations, Oaxaca also shows the worst indexes of poverty within the country (Hoobler 441-460). This State hosts organizations highly involved in the betterment of the Indigenous communities through cultural and language revitalization movements. The Centro Profesional Indígena de Asesoría, Defensa y Traducción (CEPIADET), one of the organizing committee members of our conference, has actively fomented the training of Indigenous language interpreters through updating sessions. Thus, we selected Oaxaca as the location for this conference because of its diversity regarding language and culture, and because of its trajectory on language reclamation. Another important reason for the selection is the proximity to Central American countries such as Guatemala and Bolivia, among others—countries that count with a significant Indigenous population and that struggle gaining access to the right to speak their traditional languages.