By Deborah Van Hoewyk

In 1518, Juan de Grijalva (c. 1480-1527, killed by natives in Honduras) left Cuba with four ships and 200 men to explore the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Although his uncle, conquistador Diego Velásquez, was angry that Grijalva built no settlements (actually, Grijalva’s instructions were not to do so), the mapping and reports from Grijalva’s expedition laid the groundwork for Hernán Cortés to settle the coast and move inland to conquer Mexico.

Along the coast of what is now Veracruz, Grijalva encountered a meandering, slow-moving river, naming it Río de Alvarado (River of Whiteness), now known as Río Papaloapan (Papaloapan comes from the Nahuatl papálotl, “the river of butterflies”). The Papaloapan Region of Oaxaca runs across Oaxaca’s northeastern border with Veracruz; the river crosses the foothills of the Sierra Norte and descends to the coastal plain, through Veracruz, and out to the Gulf of Mexico.

The headwaters of the Papaloapan arise in the Salado River near Tehuacán, in Puebla, and then join with the Tomillín River in Oaxaca. It takes the name Papaloapan near San Juan Bautista Valle Nacional, about 170 km (±106 miles) northeast of Oaxaca City. The Papaloapan River Basin, second only in size to the Rio Grande basin, covers over 15,000 square miles and portions of the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, and a bit of Puebla.

The First Settlers

As the river slowed and broadened, it formed fertile levees that were attractive to settlement; the Olmecs, among the earliest (1200-400 BCE) Mexican groups to leave traces of their civilization, lived throughout the basin in Veracruz and somewhat into Oaxaca. There is ample evidence of trade between the Olmecs of this area and the Aztecs, in this case the Zapotecs, of Monte Alban.

In fact, the Aztecs gave the Olmecs their name, which means “the rubber people,” named for the gum rubber the Olmecs traded throughout southeastern Mexico. Rubber trees grew in abundance in the Papaloapan basin, and the Olmecs figured out how to convert the latex sap of the tree into a substance that could be cured, shaped, and hardened. What the Olmecs called themselves is not known – their literacy included only a small collection of glyphs, considered the earliest form of writing in the New World; most Olmec communication, however, was oral, and lost forever when their civilization collapsed.

The Olmecs began to disappear around 400 BCE; the cause is unknown, but archeologists have generally credited environmental change with damaging the resources needed for survival. It is thought that the river and its tributaries began to silt up so badly the water supply was cut off. Another theory is that increased volcanic activity in this time (Popocatépetel erupted almost constantly from 800-215 BCE) coated the earth with ashy mudflows, making it unsuitable for cultivation.

On to Modernity

Because of annual flooding, and the masses of mosquitoes it brought, the Papaloapan Region was not a popular place to settle. The Spanish conquistadors mostly passed through the area en route to better pickings – saliently, gold – in Tenochitlán (Mexico City). Eventually, the colonialists took over Tuxtepec, renaming it of course, as San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, in 1811. After the War of Independence (1810-21), it became the head town of its own municipality in 1825; it is now the second largest city in Oaxaca, after the capital Oaxaca de Juárez, with a population just under 500,000.

Until the mid-20th century, the region languished. Flooding had become more severe, largely because of upland deforestation; in 1944, a terrible flood wiped out over a hundred people living in small villages or out on ranches. Shortly thereafter, Miguel Alemán, the first “civilian” Mexican president after the post-revolutionary chain of generals, and a native of the area, established Mexico’s first river basin commission. The Comisión del Papaloapan, formed in 1947, was in charge of everything from water (building dams, generating hydroelectricity, clearing swamps, etc.) to other infrastructure (building roads and towns) to social services. Signal achievements were two large dams, the Miguel Alemán dam (1954) and the Cerro de Oro (Hill of Gold) dam (early 1980s), which sharply reduced the threat of flooding, increased hydroelectric generation, and provided water via reservoirs.

This set the stage for economic development of the Papaloapan region; Victor Bravo Ahuja, governor of Oaxaca from 1968 to 1970, emphasized “modernization” of the region (he came from Tuxtepec). Bravo promoted new practices in agriculture and laid the groundwork for commercial and industrial development.

Visiting Papaloapan

This is not Mexico City, full of high culture and amazing food, nor is it the state of Oaxaca, replete with natural wonders. We have been to San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, as it was rumored to have a wonderful Christmas celebration. It probably was great, but it happened the day before we got there, and it must have used up all the electricity, because we were on the 6th floor of a hotel with no power, no elevator. We climbed down and wandered about in the colonial part of the city, very nice, not very special.

The turismo bureau of Tuxtepec recommends the river, of course, but mostly its tributaries. The industrialization of the region has been so effective that the Papaloapan itself is heavily polluted – you are advised not to expose any part of your body to the water. If you are in Tuxtepec, you can walk across the Papaloapan on a suspension bridge that goes off the Muro Boulevard, or you can take a boat from the Paso Real Pier, in the heart of downtown.

The region does, however, boast special experiences. The rivers that run into the Valle Nacional River before it reaches the Papaloapan are crystal clear. There are spas on rivers that flow through lush tropical forests (the Zuzul, Los Cocos, Piedra Quemada, and Los Sauces rivers). Ecotourism is primary in the area, with hiking through the mountains, horseback riding through the jungles, exploring caves, and kayaking streams and lagoons are all available.

While there are indigenous groups in the Region (Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Chinantecs, Mazatecs), their presence is not prominent – with one exception. In San Mateo Yetla, just south of Valle Nacional, on Route 175 heading southwest towards Oaxaca, the Chinantec women specialize in embroidery. Led by Doña Carmen Vásquez Pérez, the embroiderers are working to preserve traditional needlework techniques and patterns. San Mateo Yetla is in a beautiful mountain setting; there is an ecotourism office in the town center that can advise you about jungle hiking, hikes to waterfalls, etc.

The Pineapple Dance – A Turismo Creation

Given the impact of the Papaloapan river and its connection with Veracruz, the region has always tended to see itself as a Jarocho (Veracruz) culture. In an interesting commentary on traditions and tourism, up until 1958, Papaloapan dancers always went to the Guelaguetza (the statewide dance festival held in July) with the Fandango Jarocho as their dance. Given the mountains that separate the Papaloapan region (in both Oaxaca and Veracruz), the audiences didn’t know the dance, and didn’t pay much attention to it. At that point, Oaxaca governor Alfonso Pérez Gasga decided there should be a more generally Oaxacan theme to Papaloapan’s dance. The pineapple was chosen as broadly representative of the region, and everyone knows pineapples! The Pineapple Dance costumes were based on the Chinantec huipiles; last came the music and the dance. Needless to say, it took older people a while to adapt to the Pineapple Dance.

At the End of the Papaloapan

Given the cultural connections across the Cuenca (Basin) de Papaloapan, if you go anywhere in Papaloapan Region, you should also make it towards the mouth of the river in Veracruz, to a town called Tlacotalpan. (There is no passenger boat travel between Tuxtepec and Tlacotalpan – if you’re not driving, you need to take the bus.)

Set up on what used to be an island in 1550, Tlacotalpan was declared a World Heritage site in 1988, mainly for its architecture and colonial layout along the river. It was established to serve as a colonial river port. For a visitor today, it’s not the architecture so much as the brilliant colors in which it is painted.

Local residents are voluble about their town – we had an impromptu guide who explained which houses he himself had painted, why the colors were what they were, and of course, where his cousin’s restaurant on the river was! Should you be lucky enough to be in Tlacotalpan on February 6, you can see the Virgen de Candelaria arrive by boat to be trekked through the streets to the cathedral.