photos from the edge 21 - A VICTORY FOR CULTURAL RIGHTS

photos from the edge 21
A VICTORY FOR CULTURAL RIGHTS IN CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL VALLEY
Photoessay by David Bacon
American Community Media, 10/2/25
https://americancommunitymedia.org/arts-entertainment/a-victory-for-cultural-rights-in-californias-central-valley/

Dancers from the Grupo Folklórico Nueva Antequera perform a Mazateco dance from Huautla de limenez in the La Cañada region, in which the men try to steal kisses from the women.

Organizers of the Guelaguetza held in Fresno last Sunday felt it was a victory.  According to Sarait Martinez, director of the Centro Binacional para el Desarollo Indigena Oaxaqueña, which organized the event, "preserving our culture is itself a means of survival, and as indigenous people from Oaxaca we have celebrated the Guelaguetza now for 25 years.  But this year it was especially important to do this, because of the threats of detention coming from ICE and the Trump administration.  We could not let that stop us."

The Guelaguetza is a celebration featuring a fabulous display of dancers in elaborate masks and tall headdresses, performing to music from home. Indigenous towns in Mexico, particularly in Oaxaca, often each have their own dance; the Guelaguetza brings them together in all their vivid variety.  This year's festival in Fresno was called "Resistance, Culture, Roots, Tradition."  The Centro Binacional and its sister sponsoring organization, the Frente Indigena de Organizaciones Binacionales, called the Guelaguetza "an offering or sharing, and in this celebration we joyfully offer everyone our dances, the flavors of our food, regional music, and the traditions of Oaxacan culture."

The main Guelaguetza is held in Oaxaca itself, but over the last four decades, the number of Mixtecos, Triquis, Chatinos, and other Indigenous peoples in the U.S. has grown so large that there are now several Guelaguetzas held each year north of the border.  One 2016 study estimated that 350,000 indigenous Mexican migrants live in California. 

This year, however, the Oaxacan community in Madera decided not to hold it for fear that people would be in danger of ICE raids.  The Los Angeles Guelaguetza, often California's largest, was cancelled after the city was caught in the intense series of raids and occupation by the National Guard.  Martinez said that the threat of raids didn't deter the dozens of young people who came to volunteer to help organize the event.  She estimated the crowd of attendees at several thousand.  

The Fresno Guelaguetza was held at Fresno Community College, and because of city funding through Measure P it was free last year and Martinez hopes the funding will come through this year as well.  It was broadcast live on Radio Bilingue, a chain of bilingual radio stations broadcasting to communities throughout the southwest.  Some of its programming is in indigenous languages, and can be heard in Oaxaca itself.

indigenous Oaxacan communities in the U.S. organize dance troupes that prepare all year for the event.  The groups provide an opportunity to show off the vibrant culture, and to give young people growing up in the U.S. a chance to learn the language and dances, and to imagine a home they may have never seen.  Many go on to perform in the dance troupes that travel through the state, dancing throughout the summer and fall.

The late Mixteco community leader Rufino Dominguez-Santos explained in a 2006 oral history that dances and language are not just a way to celebrate identity, but are an essential glue that keeps communities together, helping them survive in a hostile environment. "Beyond organizing and teaching our rights," he explained, "we try to save our language. Even though 500 years have passed since the Spanish conquest, we still speak it. We are preserving our way of dancing, and rescuing our lost beliefs - that nature is something sacred for us, just as it was for our ancestors."

To see a full selection of the photos click here.

Miriam Lopez, co-founder with Raul Cortes of the Ballet Folklórico Nueva Antequera, braids the hair of a young woman as the group puts on the costumes to perform one of the Sones Istmeños in the Guelaguetza.

 

Two monos, or giant figures dressed in the style of a Oaxacan town, lead the calenda, the traditional procession that starts the Guelaguetza, and which invites the community to come.

Los Rubios de Llano Verde, a dance from the Mixteca region of Oaxaca, is performed by dancers from the town of San Miguel Cuevas.

In the style of the viejos tiliches de Putla Villa de Guerrero a young man has substituted the mask of SuperBarrio for the traditional sombrero.  The rags worn in this costume are a remembrance of the rags worn by campesinos of Putla in the nineteenth century.

Food stands line the plaza during the calenda. This one advertises aguas, or drinks made from Oaxacan squash (chilacayote), oranges and guavas, along with aguas from other fruits and vegetables.

The Grupo Folklórico El Valle de Santa Helena performs China Oaxaqueñas while a mono dances with them.

A young girl dances with the older women from the Grupo Folklórico El Valle de Santa Helena.

Dancers in the Grupo Folklórico Nueva Antequera wear the elaborate and brilliantly embroidered costumes from the Istmo de Tehuantepec.

After a set of dances, the performers hand out fruit to people in the audience.  It is a tradition that recognizes that after sitting in 90-degree sun for hours people get thirsty and hungry.