The vibrancy, passion, and power of ancient Mexico are highlighted this year at the Museum of Northern Arizona’s 3rd Annual Celebraciones de la Gente. At this Day of the Dead celebration, Saturday and Sunday, October 28 and 29 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., prehispanic origins will be juxtaposed with some of today’s premier Hispanic performers and artists in a festival of insightful programming, music, dances, and food. Celebraciones de la Gente is produced in partnership with Nuestras Raices (Our Roots), Flagstaff’s Hispanic pioneer families from the late 1800s.
Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead originated in Mexico before the Spanish conquest. It has been speculated that this holiday may have originated from the Olmecs, perhaps as many as 3,000 years ago, and been passed to other cultures such as the Toltecs, Maya, Zapotec, and Aztec. It is a joyous occasion, when memories of ancestors and the continuity of life are celebrated and the souls of the departed return to visit the living. Dia de los Muertos is not a time of mourning. Instead, candles and marigolds brighten the eyes, sugar skulls sweeten the tongue, dancing and music warm the heart, and colorful strands of papel picado banners herald the celebration.
“The Museum of Northern Arizona is committed to exploring our region’s diverse heritages and is proud to once again partner with Nuestras Raices to present Flagstaff’s Day of the Dead event. Celebraciones de la Gente reveals the antiquity and the richness of Latin American traditions and reminds us of the role that Hispanic pioneers played throughout the Southwest,” said MNA Director Robert Breunig.
Performers
Mesmerizing Aztec fire dancers from Mexico City, In Tlanextli Tlacopan, represent the glory of the Aztec and Mexican cultures through dramatic dances honoring their ancestors and ancient history. The name In Tlanextli Tlacopan is a nahuatl term that means “In the Splendor of Tlacopan.” The group’s Aztec or Mexicah traditions come from the barrio of Tlacopan (today known as Tacuba) in Mexico City. The dances represent the magnificence of the Mexicah culture, honor ancestors, and preserve historical and cultural identities.
“We want people to know the splendor of the Aztec and Mexicah peoples is alive and well, and not an imagination of the past,” says dance leader Martin Tellez. “We have all learned the tradition ofLa Danca Azteca (Aztec dancing) from our barrio of Tlacopan in Mexico City.” The dances are performed in handmade, traditionally authentic outfits adorned with feathers, headdresses, shields, shells, beads, and ancient symbols. Blessings are offered with copal incense, multiple drums and conch shells add to the excitement, and dancers move around and over a central flame.
Martin Espino, of Tepehuano and Yaqui ancestry, brings authentic sounds of ancient Mexico and his ancestors to life on bamboo instruments he makes or gathers. The mysterious music he plays with its many moods and sounds has been researched and shared among indigenous musicians throughout the Americas over many years. Since the 1980s, he has pioneered interactive performances of ancient languages and percussion instruments. The 150 pre-hispanic bamboo, gourd, and clay instruments he plays are flutes, panpipes, turtle shells, log rums, water drums, rattles, and rain sticks, to name a few.
A more authentic and historical group than the Santa Cruz River Band would be hard to find. Ted Ramirez, Michael Ronstadt, and Gilbert Brown from Tucson perform in Spanish, English, and American Indian languages. With passionate intensity, their Mexican and American folk songs and original compositions reflect their Southwestern heritage. Filled with the mystical lore of the region, their imagery and harmonies captivate and elevate the listener.
The group’s music crosses cultural, as well as generational lines, as it speaks directly to the heart. Vocalist and guitarist Ted Ramirez, vocalist and guitarist Michael Ronstadt (brother and former band member of Linda Ronstadt), and requinto and mandolin player Gilbert Brown have a new CD, The Mexican Album, with classic folk songs which instill in them a great love and pride for their Mexican heritage. Their musical program is interspersed with the history of instruments, the relationship of modern instruments to ancient ones, and the origins and meanings of the Mexican songs.
Flagstaff’s Ballet Folklorico de Colores will perform folkloric dance traditions of Mexico, including Danza, indigenous dances that are generally religious in nature and are performed in ritual and community settings. Also typically religious in nature, Mestizo dances are indigenous dances reflecting European influences in either the steps, themes, instrumentation, or costuming. Bailes Regionales, or regional dances, are primarily social in origin and are performed by most of the ballet folklorico performing groups in Mexico and the U.S.
Insight Programs
Northern Arizona University Professor of Anthropology Dr. Miguel Vasquez presents “An Anthropological View of Immigration,” discussing its causes, impacts, cultural ramifications, and trends.
NAU Associate Professor of Anthropology and MNA’s newly named Curator of Anthropology Dr. Kelley Hays-Gilpin will introduce an illustrated lecture, “Common Roots/Raices Comunes: Hopi Aztlan, and Teotihuacań” The Mexican concept of Aztlan as homeland and Hopi accounts of Palatkwapi, an ancient city south of the border from which many Hopi clans are believed to have originated will be discussed.
La Charreria is a New World cultural tradition. This style of rodeo originated in Mexico in the sixteenth century and blends equestrian games and competition with music, dance, food, and religious activities. La Charreria draws upon Spanish and Moorish equestrian skills, modified to meet the needs of ranching on the northern frontier of New Spain―what is now Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and California. Trappings of the American West exhibit artist Heather Hafleigh has photographed this cultural tradition for 12 years. On Saturday only, she presents Viva La Charreria Mexicana!, a slide show documenting four generations of the Franco family’s Carreria traditions. Xavier Reynoso of southern Arizona joins Hafleigh to demonstrate specific roping techniques used in La Charreria.
Artist Demonstrations
Throughout the weekend, the Southwest Eclectic Artists Association will create a graffiti art mural outdoors in the front of the Museum. The group uses spray paint to form depictions of ancient cultural images and is excited to return to the festival, where graffiti art has been recognized as an art form.
Fred Lopez has been demonstrating Spanish Colonial tinwork at the festival since 2000. This Santa Fe artist is known for his intricate tinwork picture frames, mirror frames, candelabras, and boxes. Lopez will demonstrate and sell his tinwork throughout the weekend, and create a work visitors can help craft.
Additional artwork will be shown and sold by Juan Olale, wood carvings and nichos; Francesca Anatra, jewelry; and Emma Gardner, paintings and jewelry. Verne Lucero, La Posada Hotel’s tinwork artist’s work will also be on display.
Altars
Altars are integral to the Dia de los Muertos tradition. Nuestras Raices will again enliven the organization’s tradition of a community altar and is inviting the public to bring momentos of their loved ones to contribute to this special place of memory and reverence. An additional altar will honor local veterans of many cultural backgrounds. As they did last year, the families of Flagstaff Hispanic pioneers will set up as many as twenty individual family altars. A presentation on altar making by Nuestras Raices members Becca Ceballos-DeLap and Lydia Qurioz will be on Saturday from 10–10:45 a.m.
Storytelling and Craft Demonstrations
Storyteller Lupe Anaya, of Mexican descent and from a Flagstaff pioneer family, will share the tale of “La Llorona,” the mysterious weeping woman. Another storyteller, Amanda Blanco from El Salvador, will share folk stories she learned as a child in her homeland.
Craft demonstrations will include multi-colored, hand-cut, festive papel picado paper art by Susan Wilcox, Guatemalan pine needle basketry by Marina Vasquez, and tortilla making and crocheting by the Guadalupanas from San Francisco de Asis Catholic Parish.
Workshop
Martin Espino will lead two workshops in English and Spanish, Panflute Making, Decorating, and Playing on Saturday (7 years old to adult) and Bamboo Flute Making, Decorating, and Playing (12 years old to adult) on Sunday, from 9 to 11 a.m. each day. Class size is limited to 30 for each workshop, and the $20 fee includes supplies and admission to the festival. Reservations are not required, however they are recommended by October 25 so that adequate supplies can be ordered. For reservations, contact Heritage Program Coordinator Anne Doyle at 774-5213, ext. 217.
Kids Activities
At Creative Corner from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., kids enjoy making Hispanic take-home crafts. In the morning, Nuestras Raices will present a sugar skull demonstration and kids can have their faces painted. Picture frame painting and colorful paper flower making will continue all day.
Sponsors
The generous sponsors of Celebraciones de la Gente are the Arizona Humanities Council, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Arizona ArtShare, National Endowment for the Arts, and Coconino County.
About MNA’s Heritage Program
The Museum of Northern Arizona’s Heritage Program festivals offer a balance of ancient and modern cultural presentations, performances, and activities. They provide visitors a deeper insight into the Hopi, Navajo, and Hispanic cultures living on the Colorado Plateau and in the Four Corners region.
The Museum is located three miles north of historic downtown Flagstaff, on Highway 180. It is open daily (except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.