The Southern Rincon Zapotec are an indigenous people group who have migrated from the mountains of Southern Mexico and who maintain much of their pre-Columbian language and culture. They are one of the wide variety of current Zapotec groups who made up the ancient Zapotec, whose roots go back at least 2,500 years and who were once the dominant culture in the Valley of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica. The Zapotec built massive complexes such as Monte Alban, developed an early system of writing, produced finely crafted jewelry, and competed for dominance with the Aztec before the arrival of the Spanish.

Their villages of origin in Mexico tend to be small, rural farming communities with little to no economic opportunity. As a result, many of them have emigrated to the United States, but maintain very strong cultural, family, and financial ties to their communities of origin. Money remitted to their home villages is a vital lifeline for those who have stayed behind.

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