SAN MARTÍN HUAMELULPAN
By Carmen Santiago Dávila
Volunteer and Correspondent for CONGREGACION MARIANA TRINITARIA, A.C. in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca.
Without any doubt, the Mixtec region hides still many surprises, beautiful landscapes, and a great diversity of wild animals, traditions from different ethnic groups, art crafts and also archaeological sites.
Visiting the villages of Tlaxiaco District, we will choose to stop by in San Martín Huamelulpan. This municipality has nine delegations and one municipal agency. There are one thousand eight hundred inhabitants. In this place, there is subsistence agriculture and people make wooden art crafts and utensils, like molinillo spoons for the kitchen, yugo and many other utensils. A small part of the population is dedicated to the manufacture of palm hats.
In San Martín Huamelulpan we find part of the pre-Hispanic history of our state, given that there are indications of old human settlements, that belong to the Mixtec culture. Before the arrival of the Spanish people to this community, it was called “Source of the River Huamelulpan”. As the old people explain to us, this name was chosen because when the place was established, there were two threes, not common in that region, called “Huamil”. These threes when they grew up, their branches united and formed some shape like an “H”. Nowadays a few sprouts from those threes still exist.
Being an intermediary location between the Coast and Central the Valleys, in “Source of the River Huamelulpan”, there was to fee that had to be paid in order cross the border with merchandises, acting like a custom.
The inhabitants of Huamelulpan were dedicated to the manufacture of weapons and also worked as goldsmiths. For the making of their accessories they used materials from the coast, like; seashells, fish scales, among others; also semi-precious stones from the region, specially the obsidian.
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HOW TO GET THERE:
By bus:
First or second class, from Oaxaca city. Buses leave every hour with destination to Tlaxiaco with a cost between 65 and 50 pesos. Before arriving to Tlaxiaco (20 kilometers, approximately) ask the chauffeur to stop at the entrance of Huamelulpan, at the border of the road. The time to get there is 4 hours and a half.
By car:
Coming from Oaxaca City, take the highway to Mexico City, and go through the Huitzo where you will have to pay a highway fee of 50 pesos. Continue 46 kms until the deviation towards Huajuapan de León, take the highway number 190 until Yucudáa; there take the deviation to Tlaxiaco with the highway 125. After San Pedro Teposcolula and Santiago Yolomécatl, very few kilometers from there you will find the deviation to towards San Martín Huamelulpan.
From this point take the track that will bring you to the village (2 kilometers). The time to get there is 3 hours. |
It was in the year 1959, when the National Institute for Anthropology and History (INAH) initiated the investigations and exploration works of the archaeological points in this zone. This is when the most important discoveries were made; the three following exploration works didn’t bring many important results. One of the last one was made in 1991.
All the works of exploration were directed by professionals from the INAH, with the help of volunteer members of the community. Now, these people are the ones that take care of their own patrimony, and are organized in a committee in charge of the maintenance and the guided visit for the tourists.
With the company of Mr. Paulino Velazco, who is the Municipal President of San Martín Huamelulpan, we could visit also all the discoveries.
The first place visited was: “The stone of the lizard”. This is a monolithical piece, which was incrusted in one of the hills nearby. It weights around 8 tons and shows a reptile on one side, explaining the name of the stone. In the same hill, in the upper part, we can guess some constructions that haven’t been discovered yet.
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Continuing our walk, we get to the “Mixtec Ball Field”. This one is surrounded by constructions that look like tiers, from where the public used to watch the games.
In the upper part there is the “Temple” of ceremonies or the “Sacrifices Plaza”. At the center of this building we find the altar and the stone where the rituals and the human sacrifices were made.
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Further up in the hill, we find the Observatory, from where we can have a perfect view of the sky and a beautiful panoramic view of the landscape.
Until now, only a fifth part of the zone was explored; there is still much to discover. The pieces found, are now shown in the Community Museum located in the center of the village. You can visit it to learn more about the Mixtec culture.
To enjoy with more time and tranquility what San Martín Huamelulpan and its inhabitants can offer to you, it is recommended that you stay the night in the Turistic Hostel.
One important point to recall, is about communication, there everyone speaks Spanish, because unfortunately their indigenous language was lost between 1880 and 1935.
In San Martín Huamelulpan you will find kind people and people ready to show you his past. “Enjoy everything that the Mixtec region of Oaxaca has to offer: Peace and Tranquility that only the nature can bring.”
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