The Copala Triqui of Mexico

The Copala Triqui of Mexico, numbering approximately 33,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Oto-Manguean people of San Juan Copala in western Oaxaca, Mexico, whose language split from Mixtec roughly 3,500 years ago and whose mountain isolation during Spanish colonization preserved their autonomous social organization. They mostly adhere to Animism and Copala Triqui is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Mexico
People Cluster: Mixtec
Primary Language(s): Copala Triqui (trc)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 33,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG039162
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Copala Triqui 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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

85%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Copala Triqui
Language Family: Otomanguean

86%
%
Triqui, Copala Speakers

Media Resources in Copala Triqui:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Copala Triqui:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1987 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Copala Triqui bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Copala Triqui are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Copala Triqui:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Copala Triqui of Mexico

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
readEphesians 2:4-5

Pray that those who have not yet received new life will be made alive together with Christ, saved by grace and raised up with Him to newness of life.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by my name."
readIsaiah 65:1

Pray that the lost will be found by God, even when they are not seeking Him. Pray that He will reveal Himself to them in a way they cannot ignore and that they will respond in faith.

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
read1 Corinthians 9:19

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hearts that want to serve the lost around them so that many might come to faith in Jesus.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Trique, Copala Across Countries (ROP3 - 108607) 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.

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