Xochistlahuaca

Xochistlahuaca Sulijaá
Town
Good Friday procession in Xochistlahuaca
Xochistlahuaca Location in Mexico
Coordinates: 16°47′29″N 98°14′31″W / 16.79139°N 98.24194°W / 16.79139; -98.24194
Country	Mexico
State	Guerrero
Municipal Status	1934
Government
• Municipal President	Ignacio García Nicolás
Area
• Municipality	430 km2 (170 sq mi)
Elevation (of seat)	390 m (1,280 ft)
Population (2005) Municipality
• Municipality	28,089
• Seat	4,152
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
Postal code (of seat)	41770

Xochistlahuaca is a town in Xochistlahuaca Municipality located in the southeast corner of the Mexican state of Guerrero. It is part of this state's Costa Chica region and while near the Pacific Ocean, most of the territory is mountainous. The population is dominated by the indigenous Amuzgo ethnicity, whose women are noted for their traditional hand woven garments, especially the huipil, which is made both for home use and for sale outside the area.

The name Xochistlahuaca comes from the nahuatl xochitl (flower) and ixtlahuatlan (plain); "plain of the flowers".

The center of population and of the Amuzgos in Guerrero is the town of Xochistlahuaca with a population of 4,152. It is located in rugged territory at an elevation of 390 meters above sea level.

The town is home to a communal Amuzgo radio station called Radio Ñomndaa (Word of water, referring to the Amuzgo language). It has become notable for its advocacy on Amuzgo issues locally and nationally.

The Museo Comunitario Amuzgo has two halls. One contains pre Hispanic pieces, other historical items such as those from the Mexican Revolution and other antiques. The other is dedicated to the Amuzgo handcrafts, especially textiles, and photographs related to the Amuzgo people.

The population is young with just over fifty percent under the age of twenty. In 2005, 91.7% of the population was indigenous with almost 86% of these being Amuzgo. The rest are almost all Mixtec . Xochistlahuaca is the largest of the Amuzgo communities which are located in this mountain area on both sides of the Guerrero/Oaxaca border although eighty percent are in Guerrero. Most of the Amuzgos in the municipality still speak the language, which is of the Oto-Manguean family. Some are monolingual, not speaking Spanish. The origin of the Amuzgo people is not known but as their language is related to Mixtec, it is possible they migrated along with these people from the north and separated out to this region to escape inter-ethnic violence. The Amuzgo name for Xochistlahuaca is Suljaá.There are some mestizos, which live primarily in the seat.