The Yaitepec Chatino of Mexico

The Yaitepec Chatino of Mexico, numbering approximately 6,700 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Chatino-speaking people believed to be among the earliest inhabitants of Oaxaca, whose ancestors broke away culturally and politically from the Zapotecs of Monte Alban around the time of Christ. They mostly adhere to Folk Catholicism and Western Highland Chatino is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Chatino, Yaitepec

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Mexico
People Cluster: Zapotec
Primary Language(s): Western Highland Chatino (ctp)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 6,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG039051
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Yaitepec Chatino of Mexico

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

99%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Western Highland Chatino
Language Family: Otomanguean

99%
%
Chatino, Western Highland Speakers

Media Resources in Western Highland Chatino:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Western Highland Chatino:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1992 The Bible League✓

1 entry

Or check out the Western Highland Chatino bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Yaitepec Chatino are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Yaitepec Chatino:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Yaitepec Chatino of Mexico

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
readMatthew 5:44-45

Pray for those who don't know Jesus to encounter believers who are kind and compassionate and that their imitation of Christ will serve as a testimony that attracts lost people to Jesus.

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia."
readRomans 16:5

Pray for houses to be meeting places for Christians and that God will advance the gospel and grow His Church through natural familial and community relationships.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
readPsalm 62:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be in awe of Jesus, remembering that He is their rock, their fortress, and their salvation.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
readLuke 18:29-30

Pray that God will raise up people to go and share the gospel and help them trust His promise that anyone who has left those they treasure for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive many times more in this life and in the life to come.

Chatino, Yaitepec Across Countries (ROP3 - 110929) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

Scroll to Top