Stars and Fireflies: Stories from Mixtepec

Authors Jeremías Salazar and Guillem Belmar present the book Kìmi tsi chǐvì, a collection of 8 narratives from Mixtepec (Oaxaca, Mexico), collected during the presenters’ own fieldwork. The stories represent a varied array of genres and traditions from the Mixtec municipality of Mixtepec, and are presented in the original Mixtec and illustrated by Mixtec illustrators themselves. From traditional beekeeping to the migrant experience in the US, the book reflects relevant topics in Mixtec societies from a Mixtec perspective.

Guillem Belmar Viernes is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the University of Oregon, and he obtained his PhD at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2024. His research focuses on understanding the dynamics of linguistic minoritization and the ways in which different communities maintain or revitalize their languages. He has worked on several minoritized languages in Europe and North America. He currently focuses on languages of Mesoamerica, particularly Mixtec and P’urhépecha, and their diaspora communities in the West Coast of the US. Since 2019 he has been part of the MILPA collective (Mexican Indigenous Language Promotion and Advocacy).

Jeremías Salazar is a speaker of Mixtepec Mixtec, originally from the village of Yucunani, in San Juan Mixtepec, Oaxaca. He has worked extensively as a community organizer in the Mixtec diaspora community of Santa María, California, where he started working on the documentation of his language in 2009. He has worked in collaboration with linguists transcribing, translating, recording, and analyzing language use in different villages of the municipality of San Juan Mixtepec. Jeremías has spearheaded many projects for the creation of pedagogical material for Mixtepec Mixtec, including the edition of the storybook collection Kìmi tsi chǐvì. He co-hosted the first COVID-19 terminology workshops for Indigenous interpreters organized by the Santa Barbara County Latinx and Indigenous Migrant COVID-19 Response Task Force. He currently works for the Agricultural Labor Relations Board of the state of California.