This paper attempts to locate the Mixe economy within the
overall Oaxaca. market economy. The first part locates the sierra
Mixe market system within the total .Oaxaca market networks, the
Mixe system being compared with the region model of Chiapas.
Mixe dependence on the Mitla and Yalalag Zapotecs is the consequence
of the developed economic specialization in the Zapotec
villages, and the monopolistic activities of the Zapotec merchants
in the Mixe markets who are in turn controlled by the Oaxaca
city merchants. Thus in the second part of the paper the underdeveloped
economic specialization in Mixe villages is constrasted
with the rich specialization in Mitla and Yalalag. In the third
part the various types of Mixe merchants and their activities are
presented in terms of their cooperative and competitive relationships
with the Mitla and Oaxaca merchants, and in the fourth part
non-economic factors and elements in the Mixe markets are noted
for attention in the future study of the markets.