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![]() Trique people during a Palm Sunday procession | |
Total population | |
---|---|
25,883[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Languages | |
Trique, Mixtec, and Mexican Spanish | |
Religion | |
Catholic, Protestant, and Native Trique religion | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Mixtec people and Cuicatec people |
The Triqui (Zapotec pronunciation: [triki], Spanish: [ˈtɾiki]) or Trique (Spanish: [ˈtɾike]) are an Indigenous people of the western part of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, centered in the municipalities of Juxtlahuaca, Putla, and Tlaxiaco. They number around 23,000 according to Ethnologue surveys. The Triqui language is a Mixtecan language of Oto-Manguean genetic affiliation. Trique peoples are known for their distinctive woven huipiles, baskets, and morrales (handbags).[2]
Triqui people live in a mountainous region, called "La Mixteca Baja", in the southwestern part of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. The elevation within the Triqui region varies between 1,500–3,000 m (4,900–9,800 ft). This high elevation permits low-lying cumulus clouds to envelop entire towns during the afternoons and evenings.
Like many other southern Mexicans, many Triqui men travel to Oaxaca City, Mexico City, or the United States as day labourers or migrant workers. As the average daily salary of a rural Oaxacan is less than $5 (U.S.) and La Mixteca is the poorest region of Oaxaca, migration and remittances sent back to Oaxaca confer economic benefits to both migrant Triquis and their families in Oaxaca.[3][4] Triqui women are more likely to remain in the Triqui region and do not travel as often as Triqui men do.