NIGHT OF THE DEAD AND THE OLD MEN

Let me be a little personal to start this post.   I have spent quite a bit of time in the state of Michoacán, Mexico and quickly became enamored of the dances and festivals.  Now that I think about my own reactions/perceptions I note two things somewhat unusual:  I never went to Janitizio except to allow visitors to have a look and I much preferred events where there were no tourists and especially no “gringos”.  The later often required trips somewhat distant from Pátzcuaro.  Although I am a news junkie I had never been aware of how central Michoacán was to national tourist promotion and even to national unity.  It is after all one of the poorest states in the republic, has more than its share of narco-traficante action and the indigenous peoples are amongst the poorest of the state. I arrived in Michoacán with no preconceived ideas of the peoples or events and very gradually came to love the place.  It should be noted that I am Canadian and Canada's relationship to Mexico is still quite different that that of the USA.

It was with surprise and pleasure that I read Ruth Hellier-Tinoco’s book, Embodying Mexico:  Tourism, Nationalism and Performance (2011) which provides a very well researched and documented study of Michoacán from about 1920 to the present.  She shows very clearly how the Island of Janitzio was “discovered” by state intellectuals and the media in 1922 (see note) and their realization that both the night of the dead celebrations and the dance of the viejitos could serve much broader purposes for the nation.  The context for all of this was the virtual civil war that occurred from 1910-1920 with the overthrow of the Porfirio Diaz (president from 1876-1911) regime.   With the new found stability of 1920 came the need for a truly national state and this depended upon Mexicans having a strong sense of who they were and something to share that might provide for unity.  In a sense there was a need to create an “imagined community”.  Into this vacuum and this need came Rubén Campos [musicologist], Francisco Domínguez [artist], Frances Toor [anthropologist], Moisés Sánez [undersecretary of education], Carlos González [also a state representative] and I.L. Kandel [a guest].  (Two of these members received government funds to return to Michoacán in 1923 to collect folklore.) On that night they arrived by canoe to the Island of Janitzio in lake Pátzcuaro as simple observers for a short while before returning to shore.  The island at that time was not appreciative of visitors and it a marvel that the newcomers were not thrown off; perhaps the visitors were protected by their official look.  They managed to take some photographs and saw the night of the dead activities.  They also took a canoe to the island of Jarácuaro where they saw the dance of the viejitos (the old men) and in 1924 took Nicolás Bartolo to Mexico City to teach others to perform the dance and the first stage event took place that year.  Nothing was to be the same and at the same time everything had to be same.  Approximately 100,000 visitors arrive each year to observe night of the dead in the region, exactly as did the six visitors in 1922, and the viejitos dance, or their image, is everywhere.  At the same time it was important that these two events not change and tourists today can recreated the 1922 trip  for themselves.

Shot in Jaracuro rather than Janitzio but showing the classic scene-women wrapped in rebozos and kneeling before candles.  However now they almost always bring small chairs.

This is not close to the classic scene as it shows a man before the grave, a not uncommon sight.

Who were the Mexicans?  Porfirio Diaz (president from 1876-1911)  identified with France and one can see many signs of this in the avenues and architecture of Mexico City.  The elite typically looked outside of Mexico for models with which to identify.  Now what was needed was something from within.  Why not look to the past, to an indigenous past?  If so the right narrative, and image, had to be constructed.  The indigenous of Michoacán provided the model especially those around lake Pátzcuaro.  The viejitos danced in what can be seen as typical indigenous clothing (white pants and top with embroidery, sandals, a beribboned hat and pink mask) so they can be presented as pan-Mexican.  The clothing contains the image of the past and of truly “authentic” indigenous peoples.  The night of the dead provided a female image, rather than the male image of the dancers, and again the simple image of indigenous women wrapped in a rebozo kneeling before candles and a grave met the need for something “authentic” and yet indigenous.  Finally the ability to create a sense of remoteness or isolation and thus pre-modern was easy with canoe trips and even with modern launches. 

This shows the most typical scene in the Patzcuaro area-4-5 dancers and the band behind them.

This a group far from the lake region: the clothing is similar but there are more dancers and they tend to dancers in lines or with other dancers.

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Here we have an example of the entertainment aspect of the dance, the dancers dancing fast and appearing to levitate.

The narrative suggests that this is where all of Mexico originated - in rural and indigenous communities.  What of course was implied in all of this was that the real people (not the imaged) were primitive and underdeveloped.  Primitive or backward rather than modern, rural rather than urban, indigenous rather than mestizo.  How to make all of this fit?  One option was to promote economic development. We saw this in the 1936 construction of the enormous image of Morelos by president Lázaro Cárdenas (born in the state and president from 1934-1940 and governor of the state prior to that), an indigenous hero of the first revolution, atop the Island of Janitzio, construction of roads to allow visitors access and the creation of CREFAL in 1950 (located in the Pátzcuaro house of former President Lázaro Cárdenas) to foster economic development projects around the lake.

The discussion above is short on specifics whereas Hellier-Tinoco is long (so to speak).  Much of the above activity took places under the auspices of the federal secretary of education (the same agency that hired Diego Rivera in the 1920-30 to create mural images that spoke to who Mexicans were) since education was seen as central to the construction of a national identity.  Students were taught about the two activities discussed, images of the dancers and night of the dead were used extensively in advertising (and as she points out the people seldom paid), world fairs presented these images as the “soul of Mexico", corporations used the images, and beginning in the 1930 dance performances were staged to highlight the viejitos and then in 1950 the national Ballet Focklorico was created to present the viejitos on a grand scale in the Bellas Artes building in Mexico City.  The viejitos were taken on tours of the United States and Europe and anthropologists and archaeologists were invited to Michoacán and to much of Mexico to uncover the indigenous past with work on the site at Ihuatzio, Michoacán (excavated and opened to the public in 1937-38 and currently undergoing further development) and the ruins in Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán (also excavated in the 1930s).

Little did I know that two events from Michoacán would come to stand for the “soul of Mexico”.  The trouble for Michoacán of course is that it becomes difficult if not impossible to escape the framework created almost 100 years ago. It's folklore and folk art or starve as other cultural activities and artistic endeavors are ignored and economic development still waits.

Note: #1.  The author does not say exactly when the trip to Janitzio occurred but I have selected 1922. It may have been 1923 as Frances Toor an American anthropologists only arrived in Mexico in 1922.  One wonders how she so quickly achieved the confidence of those in power.  In 1925 three of the people involved published articles related to their journey and in the same year Toor began publishing her famous journal, Mexican Folkways.

Note #2:  One often hears that the dance of the old men has its origins in the encounters of the indigenous an the Spanish with the dance been a bit of a spoof.  This may not be true as a reference to the dance is made as early as the 16th century and it appeared to serve very local purposes.  However, the dance is uniquely Purépecha.

You can expect me to return to this subject as reading about Frances Toor has led me to the excitement of the 1920s in Mexico City.

SEEING COMMUNITY

Community! What is it? As a sociologist I have talked about community all my adult life having realized that sociology is a long nostalgic essay on the loss of community. If sociology is correct, most of us have never experienced community in the strongest sense of the term. We do see flashes of community in times of disaster or personal tragedies but what must it have been like in a stronger and or more encompassing form? First a word or two about this difficult notion of community. For me it refers to a strong sense of solidarity among a non-family group, a sense of belonging, involvement and emotional connection. The capacity and willingness of people to not necessarily deny their individuality but to be able to make substantial contributions to the common good or the welfare of the group. In most western societies this contribution is made in a very impersonal fashion - we pay our taxes and hope or even demand that government take care of the marginalized, the sick and the poor and even to organize our entertainment. Increasingly we rely on the corporate sector to arrange for public events, pay for what we call democracy and so on. Community would be a much more personal involvement and commitment to these projects.

This is a prelude to my trying to understand our experience of attending a Mexican fiesta on Three Kings Day (Jan. 6). We arrived in the pueblo, a place that is not really very remote now having good highway access, but felt like another world, around 3:00 pm. The town has a different feel to it because of being surrounded by forest and mountains and the more traditional type of housing. Not exactly the traditional trojes but troje-like. The town is an access point to the newest volcano in the world (having emerged in a farmer’s field around 1935 and exploded in the mid-1940s devastating a community), so attracts a number of tourist, many of whom are invited to travel to their destination on horse-back. The church was very attractive in it’s Christmas finery and the yard had a number of nacimientos (manger scenes) around the wall each with one or more doll sized images of baby Jesus. Local dancers were beginning to appear from houses and people were congregating in the large church yard. Before long there were too many dancers to count, a substantial crowd, three kings on horses and a beautiful image of the baby Jesus seated in a chair was brought from the church.

The dancers were unlike anything we had seen before but it became clear that they were “kurpites” (fittingly in the local language this means coming together). (However, some carried viejito canes adding to my confusion.) What was distinctive about the dancers clothing was that they had up to 20 aprons tied quite high up on the body and going around the body. This gave the dancers the appearance of being quite fat. These aprons were hand-made with fine needlework probably by mothers, aunts, grandmothers, girl friends. The dancers carried their personal history on their backs. These were the Kurpites dancers and as well one or two wore masks of Mary (Marangillas) and of Jose (Joseph). The dancers wore a scarf just over the nose and a mask covered in beads, tinsel and ribbons, on the top of their heads. Many appeared to have new cowboy boots and all had bells on their ankles. There appeared to be a group of quite young dancers (some 4 or 5 years old) and then a group of older teenagers. After much waiting the procession began with all of the dancers, the horses, an image of the Virgin, the image of baby Jesus and well as all of the Jesus figures from the mangers and a substantial crowd. An incense burner was carried before Jesus and immediately after one or two people throwing confetti on the carriers. The procession proceeded around the community on a very cold night accompanied by the usual cojetes (rocket-like fireworks).

On arrival at the church we found women appearing from the side streets with large containers of pozole, baskets of tortillas, more baskets of tamales and countless bags of oranges. Before long the church-yard was filled with perhaps 800 people (perhaps the whole town). The ritual of giving gifts to the children began. Remarkably they lined up without pushing or fighting and the young ones waited to be given a gift from one of the trucks parked in the yard. Girls appeared to receive small Barbie-like dolls, very small ironing boards, small plastic chairs and the boys very small plastic wheel-barrows and balls. Eventually the organization broke down as the men in the truck began throwing gifts into the crowd. There were no signs of “brought to you be corporation x” and no sign of political types.

In the background food was being prepared with a table set for the elders of the community and I assume everyone who wished would be given access to food. We too could have participated having been told that what was expected was presentation of a gift of cigarettes or tequila to the chief elder. Although we had purchased the gift we left the community before food was consumed having decided there just wasn’t enough space for 4 gringos to navigate the crowd.

For me a sense of community was every where but most clearly in the amount of effort and money many family had contributed to make this event happen and have the marvelous appearance and feel it did. For example, if there were 100 dancers (and there may have been more) each with 20 aprons, this would amount to 2000 aprons! Who purchased the gifts for about 200 young people? Who prepared all the food (this may have involved grinding the corn, making masa, filling tomales, etc.? In a traditional community like this there may have been a carguero in charge of the image of Santo Niño who may have been selected because of his resources and he may have borrowed money from others or required people to contribute money to purchase supplies, pay for the band, and so on. In any event what we saw was the signs of community with little presence of the usual stage managers of public events in the West.

One final thought: all of the dancers were under the age of 18 so this would create a constant need for new dancers thus bringing in the next generation. As a result the majority of the adults would share something in common with these kids. All of the males would be bound together in some fashion by this common service to baby Jesus and to the community. Females would be bound together in a similar fashion through their service to organization, costume creation and food preparation. I doubt if opting out of attendance was an option: saying you were tired or had other commitments just wouldn’t wash. Community came first.

BLACK MEN OF SEVINA

an subsequent post (titled, Driving on New Years Day)) I mentioned learning that the “black men” were to dance on January 1 in the puebla of Sevina. On January 3 we returned to Sevina to see a concurso of dance happening in late afternoon. We had not seen the black men before, although we had seen them a previous year but only from from a distance so knew nothing of their masks. That year we had seen a number of dancers on the way to the home of a carguero, dressed in dark suits (what we now know to be “catrin” outfits, that is citifed clothing) but what were the masks? Were they negritios? This was my expectation. What a surprise when I walked up a hill to the carguero’s house this year having seen a crowd gathering and hearing band music. The dancers were all in their dark suits, but the masks! They were conquistadores. The masks of the conquerors of Mexico. These masks show a very pale skin, bright blue eyes and a substantial golden beard. Their hats were spectacular, looking somewhat like a traditional marching band hat but with flower decorations and many silver adornments. Later I was able to talk to the mask maker of this town and learned two things: first, the conquistadores were the ones who took baby Jesus from the manger in the church on December 26 and returned it to the carguero of the image. This job is reserved for the most honored dancers and in many communities this is the negrito. The history of the negrito in Tarascan communities is very interesting and well documented by Janet Esser (1988). So why were these black men not negritos? I am a little unclear of this, but the mask maker claimed that in the early days the mask maker either could not carve black masks or they were not very well done. His speciality was the mask of the conqueror and commonsense determined that this would be the mask used. Although very good negrito masks are now carved by the chief carver, the masks of the conquistadores are still the more honorable masks.

The dance competition began around 5:00 pm and while the conquistadores were present the centre of attention was on approximately 80 other dancers with a wide variety of masks, many of them of feos (or the uglies). These dancers came on throughout the night in small groups with the only rule seeming to be that no one could speak. They had to rely on their acting ability to try and get into the character of the mask. One came to appreciate the talent needed to really communicate, over a long period of time, the personality implied by the mask the person ws wearing. Towards the end of the evening there was more of a performance and participation in the judging from the rather large audience gathered around the basketball court and on adjoining rooftops.