Through interviews with three generations of Yalálag Zapotecs (“Yaláltecos”) in Los Angeles and Yalálag, Oaxaca, this book examines the impact of international migration on this community. It traces five decades of migration to Los Angeles in order to delineate migration patterns, community formation in Los Angeles, and the emergence of transnational identities of the first and second generations of Yalálag Zapotecs in the United States, exploring why these immigrants and their descendents now think of themselves as Mexican, Mexican Indian immigrants, Oaxaqueños, and Latinos—identities they did not claim in Mexico.

Based on multi-site fieldwork conducted over a five-year period, Adriana Cruz-Manjarrez analyzes how and why Yalálag Zapotec identity and culture have been reconfigured in the United States, using such cultural practices as music, dance, and religious rituals as a lens to bring this dynamic process into focus. By illustrating the sociocultural, economic, and political practices that link immigrants in Los Angeles to those left behind, the book documents how transnational migration has reflected, shaped, and transformed these practices in both their place of origin and immigration.

ADRIANA CRUZ-MANJARREZ is a research professor at the University of Colima, Mexico.

"[Zapotecs on the Move] elegantly advances anthropological understandings of the topic of migrations/immigrations/emigrations between Mexico and the United States … I highly recommend this book to scholars interested in the international movement of culture, memory and the politics of assimilation, and identity projects in Mexico or the United States."

"This rich ethnography reveals how ethnic identity and community membership are negotiated across borders and generations, including an especially original analysis of public cultural expression through community dance."

"Zapotecs on the Move is an important contribution to scholarship on transnational communities and culture, migration and immigrant identity formation."

"Zapotecs on the Move offers a valuable account of the complexities of transnationalism through a deep analysis of the experience of Yalaltecos in Oaxaca and Los Angeles."

"Cruz-Manjarrez documents important aspects of indigenous immigrant identity formation in Los Angeles and Yalálag, Oaxaca, particularly of immigrant youth, adding to our understanding of urban indigenous incorporation in the United States."