San Martín Huamelulpan

With 114 residents in 2020 (113 in 2010), San Martín Huamelúlpam is the seat of a municipality in the Mixteca Alta, in the Tlaxiaco district, at about 2,226 m above sea level. The name comes from Nahuatl and is usually read as "on the mound of amaranth"; in Mixtec it is Yucunindaba, "the hill that flew". The ruins of the ancient city that made the place known have their own page in this guide; this one is about what is in the village.

The parish church of San Martín has a pre-Hispanic limestone sculpture set into one wall, about 1.20 m tall: a skeletal figure shown from the front, with claws on its limbs and a heart-like organ in the chest. The features recall the tzitzimime, beings of Nahua tradition; no one knows whether it came from the Mixtec city or is later work. After the Conquest it was common to reuse pre-Hispanic carvings in churches and houses.

The Hitalulu community museum ("Flor Bonita"), run by a village committee, is open Monday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00. It shows finds and data from the early city, urns of Dzahui, the rain god, and a hall of traditional medicine covering empacho, mal de aire, espanto and childbirth. Its activities include printmaking and silkscreen workshops, embroidery on manta cloth and carving of wooden spoons.

The patron saint's fiesta, for Saint Martin of Tours, is on 11 November; another is held on the fifth Friday of Lent for the Precious Blood of Christ. Those are the best days to find the village lively.