TRIQUE

any member of an Indian people of Oaxaca state, Mex., speaking a Mixtecan language. They depend for subsistence on farming (principal crops being corn and beans), hunting, and gathering. The women produce beautifully woven cloth, and some Trique men work outside the community as labourers. Settlements may be compact towns or dispersed hamlets; houses are thatched-roof, one-room buildings. Individuals generally marry within their own village, and the compadrazgo (godparent) system is practiced. Trique religion includes both ancient Indian and Roman Catholic rites and beliefs.