KINGSTON, R.I. 鈥� March 5, 2026 鈥� Religious and indigenous diversity is just as much of a distinct cultural aspect of Oaxaca, Mexico, as its famous beaches, mol茅 sauce delicacies and Zapotec pyramid sites.
The southern Mexican state populated by around 1.2 million people鈥攁bout the size of Rhode Island鈥攊s home to 16 distinct indigenous languages in a country that is primarily Catholic. But Protestant groups have taken root within Oaxaca over the last century.
溏心vlog免费B站 Chair will travel to Oaxaca in early March to share her research into this diverse Mexican region, and the religious tensions therein, through a special presentation she鈥檒l deliver there on Thursday, March 12. McIntyre鈥檚 talk, 鈥�,鈥� will examine how Protestant conversion impacted 鈥渦sos y costumbres鈥�(customary law), the 鈥渃argo system鈥� (duties and obligations), and 鈥渢equio鈥� (collective service work) in Zapotec and Mixtec communities in Oaxaca.
鈥淎long with building stronger connections with universities in Oaxaca, I wanted to look at Native communities there where most people were practicing forms of a kind of syncretic Catholicism, a mixture of Spanish Catholicism with indigenous pre-Hispanic indigenous traditions,鈥� said McIntyre, who has been researching the southern Mexican state for more than 20 years. 鈥淧lus, changes in culture such as this are not just about religion. It also affects power.鈥�
McIntyre is partnering with Welte Institute of Oaxacan Studies鈥攚here she studied the Mixtec language for her research鈥攁nd the Oaxaca Lending Library to deliver her presentation on religious change and conflict, a current worldwide topic. This upcoming talk builds on McIntyre鈥檚 book 鈥溾�� and her sabbatical to Oaxaca last year as a U.S. Fulbright-Garc铆a Robles Social Sciences and Humanities Guest Scholar at the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropolog铆a Social.
McIntyre鈥檚 upcoming talk, which will be for those who purchase tickets, will also cover how the resulting religious competition in these communities led to disputes over 鈥渢equio鈥� and 鈥渃argo鈥� participation. The talk will also touch on how between the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and the Zapatista uprising of 1994, Protestant conversion fueled regional and national discussions over the state’s conceptualization of indigenous citizenship and the parameters of Oaxaca鈥檚 local autonomy.
In their own culture
McIntyre says the constitution following the 1910 Mexican Revolution limited the Catholic Church鈥檚 power in the country. That, she says, triggered civil war between the Catholic Church and the Mexican government because the church felt its religious freedom was violated.
From pre-colonial times, Oaxaca communities practiced usos y costumbres, also known as 鈥渃ustomary law,鈥� as a means of self-government. Despite centuries of colonialism, many communities preserved these traditions. However, as Protestant converts increasingly opted out of communal tradition participation beginning in the 1920s, it also led to conflicts between individual and collective religious rights.
Not only did conflict rise in Oaxaca鈥攊n some cases, violently鈥攕o did the issue complicate how the Mexican government navigated this complicated matter of local, state and federal jurisdiction, McIntyre says.
鈥淲hen you have a growing indigenous rights movement in Oaxaca in the 1990s, you have some indigenous groups saying, 鈥榤aybe we should go back to some of our traditions, and just have one religion in our community,鈥欌�� McIntyre said. 鈥淏ut the people of Oaxaca in a way work together and get along, and respect each other鈥檚 beliefs and customs to have a shared community.鈥�
Oaxaca also has a sizable group of retired Americans expatriates, which McIntyre鈥檚 upcoming presentation is geared toward. While Oaxaca is famous for its tourism, old Dominican Catholic Cathedrals and pilgrimage sites, she hopes to inform her audience of Oaxaca鈥檚 diverse and complicated newer religious history.
鈥淯ltimately, I hope to bring people together and talk about how it’s not really just a case about religious conflict in Oaxaca,鈥� McIntyre said. 鈥淚t’s also about how a community adapts to or resists change in times of increasing globalization and gentrification.鈥�