HUAVE

also spelled Huavi, or Wabi Meso-American Indian peasants of the Pacific coast of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The exact relationship of the Huave language to other Meso-American languages is a matter of scholarly dispute. Fishing and agriculture are the main subsistence activities, but the Huave also depend on markets in nearby towns to meet their needs for staple foods and manufactured goods. Patrilocal family units occupy thatched-roof huts that make up compact villages. All male members of the community enter the escalafn, a system of civil and religious office holding.