The chatinos call themselves Kitse cha'tnio. The chatino territory is located in the Sierra Madre (Mother) of the South, in the state of Oaxaca. It extends from in a continuous way from Southwest to northwest in the district of Juquila passing from the coast to the mountainous areas of the Sierra; it continues in this direction including a suth-west portion of the district of Sola de Vega.

The chatina population concentrates mainly on the following municipalities: Santos Reyes Nopala, San Juan Quiahije, San Miguel Panixtlahuaca, Santiago Yaitepec, Santa Cruz Zezontepec, San Juan Lachao, Santa María Temaxcaltepec, Santa Catarina Juquila and Tataltepec of Valdez.

Language - The Chatino belongs to the branch of languages zapotecanas of the group linguistic otomangue. It separated from the zapoteco in a definitive way twenty-four centuries ago.

Health - The traditional medicine uses herbs, animal extracts and magic-religious rituals. In the chatina therapy we find healers, midwives, rezadores (prayers), sorcerers, hierberos (herbman) and hueseros (bones man). The drugs used like the "Sacred mushroom" and the "Santa" (the virgin's seeds) is common among the believers.

Housing - The chatina house is generally composed by one or more houses inside the domestic lot that covers, extensive families. In these cases, the kitchen is shared in a separated construction. The house is generally of a single room, rectangular, without windows, with earth floor. The recovered reed walls of mud or of adobe. Four wooden posts go placed in the corners and they sustain the palm roof, in warm weathers, and of tiles in cold areas.

Dress - The traditional dress in the woman has been lost, as well as the use of the waist loom due to diverse causes: the high cost of garments, the difficulty of getting the cotton, among others. The feminine traditional dress included a cotton blouse embroidered around the neckline, skirt folded with decorations of fittings of alive colors, embroidered blanket bottom, apron, tape and muffler. The masculine one consisted on a short and shirt of cotton blanket, belt, sarape, black hat and handbag with white, purple and red ribbons.

The chatino world is sustained intrinsically in a balance among the society, the nature and the divine-sacred linked where the points of tension must guarantee the maintenance of the harmony of the universe.

Parties - there are around 40 patron parties in the region and each community celebrates its own, also rituals referred to the agricultural works, neighborhood parties or of community. The only important regional party is on December 8 in honor to the Virgin of Juquila.

Social organization - The men collaborate in agricultural tasks, shee herding, hunt, fishing and construction of houses. The women concentrate their activities in the home, taking care of the domestic animals, carrying water and firewood, work in the orchards, gathering and handicraft products. The most significant space in the house is the altar. Another realtionship that reinforces the development of the community is the "compadrazgo" (Godfathers) in cases of baptism, confirmation, marriage, veils and lifting of cross. They also practice the tequio or community work.