Venice Beach in southern California is known to outsiders largely for its sunshine, its boardwalk, its surfers and its bikini-clad inline skaters.

To an increasing number of Mexicans from the poor southern state of Oaxaca, however, it is also a home. Venice happens to have one of the largest concentrations of migrants from Oaxaca anywhere outside of Mexico. Zapotec-speaking indigenous groups from the market town of Tlacolula and nearby villages work in stalls along the boardwalk or as cooks, waiters and maids in the chic restaurants and hotels of Santa Monica.