Zapotecs on the Move: Cultural, Social, and Political Processes in Transnational Perspective

Glossary

225 baile. In Los Angeles, a baile is a community gathering. In Yalálag, it is a nighttime popular dance gathering. barrio. A geopolitical area and social institution of Yalálag bi gwlash. Zapotec term for countryman or countrywoman cacicazgo. A sociopolitical institution ruled by a cacique and controlled by the state government cacique. A local ruler or political boss calenda. A late evening walk that starts around 10 p.m. and ends at 2 a.m. Along with the Zapotec brass bands, the residents and the visitors dance through the village as an invitation to the celebration of patron saint fiestas. It takes place two days before the major day patron saint fiesta takes place calzón y camisa de manta. A white, long-sleeved shirt and white pants made of cotton capitán de la danza. Dance leader cargo. A religious, political, or civic post cargo or barrio-cargo system. A local system of civil service or public service posts carnicerías. Butcher shops casa del barrio. Neighborhood cultural center casa del pueblo. Community center of a village and the Kitchen village Cerro Brujo. Bewitched Hill G L O S S A R Y 226 Glossary caudillo. A military dictator champurrado. A drink made of corn, sugar cane, and chocolate Chicano. This term has various meanings. It denotes Mexicans born in the United States. It can also refer to Mexican gang members. It refers to a politicized identity of Mexicans born in the United States who reject the ideology of assimilation into Anglo-American mainstream culture and notions of Anglo superiority. cholo. A Mexican American gang member chuntis. Indian-looking or behaving cirio. Paschal candle cofradía. Sodality; a lay brotherhood responsible for financing religious services and maintaining the church comisiones de festejos. Fiesta committees comisiones de las iglesias. Church committees comisiones de obras. Church reconstruction committees compadrazgo. Godparenthood convíte. A late afternoon procession. Accompanied by the music of local brass bands, a delegation of children and the fiesta committee walk through the village announcing that the main day of the fiesta is about to start. The procession invites all Yalaltecos and visitors to attend all the events. This procession takes place on June 11, two days before the celebration of the festival of San Antonio de Padua. corregidor. Spanish officer in charge of a local Indian district corregimiento. Jurisdiction or office of a corregidor coyote. Smuggler danza chusca. Parodic dance danzante. Dancer FOCOICA. Oaxacan Federation of Indigenous Communities and Organizations in California grupo tropical. A tropical music ensemble gwzon. A system of reciprocity and mutual support in which person or group A does gwzon (gives or does a favor) for person or group B. Then, person(s) A trusts and expects that person(s) B will return this help in the future. Glossary 227 gwzon of faith. Relation of reciprocity with theYalálag Catholic patron saints. It is an act of reciprocity with the Yalálag deities. encomienda. Grant of an Indian town or towns, carrying the right to access tribute El Norte. The United States ermita. Small chapel HTA (Hometown Association). A community organization of immigrants huenche. A nahuatl word that means“old people.”In Zapotec, the Yalálag Zapotec say wench gure, meaning “the ancient Zapotecs.” The dance of Los Huenches translates as “the dance of the ancient Zapotecs.” INS. Immigration and Naturalization Service IRCA. Immigration Reform and Control Act jaripeo. Traditional bullfight jarabe. A dance and a music genre. It is composed of a set of sones (dances) to be performed together. ’ll xha. Zapotec dress maítines. A mass that takes place on June 12. It is accompanied by one of the local brass bands and the church choir, who provide music and religious chants. mayordomo. Sponsor of a religious celebration mescal. An alcoholic drink made from the agave plant NAFTA. North American Free Trade Agreement Niño Dios. Christ child norteño music. A popular music genre born in the 1940s in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Rooted in the Mexican Revolution, it currently stands as a symbol of Mexican national identity. octava. A one-day fiesta a week after the festival of June 13 ORO. The transnational, multiethnic Oaxacan Regional Organization paisano/a. Spanish word that means countryman or countrywoman pandillerismo. Hooliganism, gang activity PNR. Partido Nacional Revolucionario, forerunner to the PRI pochos. A word used in the United States and in Mexico to describe...