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 Referred to as Ñuñume, or the land of the clouds, by the indigenous population, this area is full of tradition, history and culture. The Mixtecs have lived in this region for more than 2800 years.
They believe that humanity was born in the hidden and green valley of Santiago Apoala and spread from there to the wild mountains and valleys of the difficult to reach Mixteca.
In prehispanic times this part of Oaxaca was highly populated. The forests, valleys and mountains provided them with soil easy to cultivate.  | With the arrival of the Spaniards at the end of the 16th century, everything changed. In a short time more than half of the population had died from introduced illnesses. Today the Sierra Mixteca is a rough, wide mountainous land, the land of the cactus, the land of erosion. The region is one of the poorest in the state of Oaxaca. The population lives from agriculture and in some villages migration rates are as high as 50% to 70%. Tourism is a new economic resource and they are slowly developing a small infrastructure designed to enable visitors to experience their history and traditions.
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