Cuicatec - Settlements

Settlements in the Cuicatec area are organized into municipios, the smallest division of state executive authority. Each municipio has a capital or headtown, and most contain one or more additional settlements, called "dependencies." Typically, each settlement has a native Cuicatec name, a Nahuatl name given by the Aztec conquerors, and a saint's name given by the Spanish. Settlement locations are marked by historical continuity. Most of today's municipio capitals were pre-Hispanic señorío capitals, and most of today's dependencies were señorío dependencies.