Eva Lepiz

Photographer

www.evalepizphoto.com

The Ones Who Stayed Behind. Americas Quarterly.

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Enedina Zarita Bazan Ch&aa...o the United States.

Enedina Zarita Bazan Chávez (57) and Juana Victoria Chávez (86) spend much of their time weaving wool rugs, a Zapotec tradition for which Teotitlán is famous. Families in Teotitlán receive more than $1 million annually in remittances from the U.S., money that helps sustain the making of these handcrafts, which lack access to large, commercialized markets. Several of Enedina’s and Juana’s nephews and cousins have emigrated to the United States.

Locals hold a trio of large be...tions a harder task.

Locals hold a trio of large beeswax candles studded with flowers. These are to be presented as a gift as part of a “contentada”, a traditional form of marriage proposal that brings together the respective families of the couple. For those who have family members who have left, fewer hands make such elaborate preparations a harder task.

Areli Chávez Bautis...oorpark, California.

Areli Chávez Bautista (25), Beatriz González Martínez (69), and Guadalupe Chávez Bautista (70) light candles as part of a Christmas festival reenacting Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay in Bethlehem before the birth of Jesus. These women have several relatives now residing in the U.S.: Beatriz’s daughter lives in Moorpark, California.

At a wedding, village women pu...when the time comes.

At a wedding, village women put their cooking skills to work in a show of “guelaguetza”, a traditional Zapotec form of community service. Villagers help others with tasks at marriages and other festivals, in the expectation that this help will be returned to them when the time comes.

Winter in Oaxaca. Enedina Ch&a...;aacute;n del Valle.

Winter in Oaxaca. Enedina Chávez and her daughter Janet (32) look out from the top of Picacho Mountain over the Piedra Azul reservoir and the town of Teotitlán del Valle.

Mobile phones are poised to fi...tion to their roots.

Mobile phones are poised to film the spectacle, as a wicker structure lined with fireworks is lit aflame during celebrations for the new year. During the period around Christmas, many families living in the U.S. return to their native villages to visit family and keep alive the connection to their roots.

Men prepare for the new year a...Ventura, California.

Men prepare for the new year at the Cerro de la Cuevita, a local landmark where traditional offerings are made. Townspeople stack rocks representing things they hope to obtain in the year to come, such as a house, animals, or a car. Various relatives of Javier Lazo Gutiérrez (31), right, now live in the U.S., including his brother, several cousins, and his uncle Porfirio, a renowned Zapotec weaver who lives in Ventura, California.

Faustino Alavez Chá...o return to the U.S.

Faustino Alavez Chávez (48) stands next to his mother’s grave. After crossing the border as a teenager in 1987, Faustino spent 26 years in the United States before returning to Teotitlán to spend time with his ailing parents. Now working in town as a taxi driver, he says he has no desire to return to the U.S.

Hosts pass around glasses of m...ions, like this one.

Hosts pass around glasses of mezcal to guests during New Year’s Day celebrations. Many of those who migrate set aside money throughout the year to help pay the cost of traditional celebrations, like this one.

Elvia Quiñones Mart...mployment prospects.

Elvia Quiñones Martínez (47), pictured at center bearing an effigy of the Infant Jesus, returned to Teotitlán with her family from Santa Ana, California to play this special role in the traditional New Year’s Day procession. Elvia and her husband crossed to the U.S. 25 years ago in search of better employment prospects.

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The Ones Who Stayed Behind. Americas Quarterly.

Copyright Eva Lepiz 2024

Updated Sep 2022

Location Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico

Topics Adolescence, Belief, Borders, Celebrations, Children, Community, Culture, Culture stories, Editorial, Ethnic minorities, Family, History, Immigration, Landscape, Latin America, Migration, Parenting & Family, Personal Projects, Photography, Portrait, Religion, Spirituality, World heritage

The Ones Who Stayed Behind.

By Eva Lépiz

Published in Americas Quarterly. Volume 15. Issue 4, 2021.

Stories of migration often attract attention—and deservedly so—for their dramatic combination of hope, uncertainty, and adversity. But there is always a parallel story about those who are left behind. For them, the separation is a quieter affair, but not a lighter burden.

Here, Eva Lepiz portrays life in Teotitlán del Valle, a town of 6,000 people in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca that has seen large outward flows of migration to the U.S. in recent years. Artisan crafts, community life, and religious rituals continue—but not without a melancholy that comes with the absence of loved ones, especially in this Zapotec-influenced culture that puts such great emphasis on the extended family.

-Americas Quarterly. Volume 15. Issue 4, 2021.

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Eva Lepiz

Also by Eva Lepiz —

Centro de Diseño, Oaxaca

Wool + Clay

Are grasshoppers as delicious as ham? Mexico’s insect hunters would like you to find out. Los Angeles Times

11 Delicious Reasons to Get Outta Town. EATER

A Street Food Guide to Oaxaca City. EATER

Perfect 24 Hours. The Eater Guide to Oaxaca.

Escaramuzas

Belize Maya Forest. The Nature Conservancy

Saving the Maya Rainforest An innovative deal helps Belize bring its total protected lands to nearly 40%. The Nature Conservancy.

The Washington Post: Tourists are welcome in Oaxaca, Mexico. Their increasingly bad behavior is not.

To welcome the dead, they journey home to Mexico for Día de Muertos. Los Angeles Times.

A Oaxacan community prays for two brothers. Los Angeles Times.

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