Mexico, Tenancingo Degollado, : El Fuerte II

We would see the Danza del Venado (Deer Dance) the next day when we visited a small town, Los Capomos inhabited by Los Mayo, one of the indigenous tribes that inhabit the region. They speak spanish and Cahita, part of th Uto-Aztec lingual group. The Mayo are known for their subsistence farming and pottery. They inhabit northern Sinaloa and the southern part of Sonora. In fact Sinaloa is a Mayo word. The name Sinaloa comes from the Cahita language. It is a combination of the words sina, which means pithaya and

lobola, which means rounded. Their lands are a semi arid desert area of spiney bushes, small trees and vine-like plants growing in a sea of sandy pebbly soil. It is surprising however what can come from the desert. It is not what it seems. The story of the Mayo like most of the indigenous peoples of northern Mexico grew sadder after the spanish conquest. When Nuño Beltran De Guzman arrived (one should really read about this guy if one wishes to know one of the darker sides of the conquest). He brought small pox, catholicism, enslavement, and tribal dispersion with him. After the conquest and conversion to polytheistic catholicism there was a long period of more of less being forgotten,,, or occaisionally slapped around. . Then came the rule of Porfirio Diaz The Dilemma King, who relentlessly attacked them and stripped them and Los Yaquis of their lands, leading to a great amerindian rebellion which was suppressed after twenty years. With modernization their population grew and caused a host of land use and employment problems,,, yet hey are still there, those that haven't moved to the cities, swimming in their sea od sand and spines. Although the tribal devastation was great in this part of Mexico, the conquistadores, priests, nor the cruelties of modern existence could eliminate the culture. All conversions due to conquest be they Mayan, Aztec, or Spanish change the status quo and that status quo remains more intact the farther one moves away from Mexico City, which casts a heavy shadow on its neighbors. Look at the states of Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and the country of Guatemala. They are different,, aloof in an indigenous way. In the last 500 years disease, modern transport, the media, and commercialization have eaten away at what remains of indigenous cultures, but I think it still holds true to rub shoulders with the mighty Mexico City and it will rub off all over you perhaps erasing a good part of your past.

Miguel Angel, our guide, led us to this desert outside of El Fuerte first to a house for lunch then afterwards to visit a shaman. We left the main highway at one point and turned right on a side road. Planted there was a group of well armed military men standing next to their Humvees. Suddenly a dead body hove into view. He was mustachioed dressed humbly and stiff. He had obviously been maltreated. His death was not fresh for rigor mortis had set in. This man was thrown onto the edge of the road on his side, his face drawn tight,, arms and hands frozen in some kind supplication. Miguel Angel, who acted as Zorro, guide, and front desk man at the Hotel Posada blurted out as we quickly moved on, "Si vives mal terminas mal". He had felt the need to explain this discarded man and justify his guilt. Everyone was silent except one other passenger who murmurred "Ayi nuestro Mexico".

We entered the house of two sisters. They were preparing la masa por tortillas and cueritos con chile chiltepine, a small hot round chile called "Oro Rojo" of Sinaloa (red gold). Before the meal we investigated their grounds. The soil was packed hard but swept very clean. Everywhere there were pots and cazuelas supported by the trunks of palo de brazil, a much used wood in the region.

Mayo house

Palo de Brazil

Corn Water

Metate of river stone and cazuela

Preparing the comal and the masa

Bean pot supported by palo de brazil

Emilia making a clay pot. When they need a new pot or cazuela, they just go to the place with the right kind of mud, sit under their tree, form a pot, and fire it in the back yard.

Millling the nixtamal

Our lunch table set

Tortillas on their home made clay comal

After the ladies,we went to visit a shaman, Don Cecilio.. His house and yard bathed by the welcome shadow of a trellis of sticks from which hung jabali, rattlesnakes, deer hides, and armadillos. There were dried fruits,nuts, and curative herbs I have never heard of. This opened my eyes about the supposed spiney sparse desert viewed from afar where I always thought abundance was,,,, well,,, scarce. This is not the case at all. The range of availability would please Bear Grylls's starving disciples sequestered on those tropical isles.

We were introduced to a dancer named Luis who was to perform for us.

Deer hide

Adobe wall with mask in the center, silk cocoons left, and rattlesnake skins right

Armadillo and rattlesnake hide

These are cocoons of silk that are filled with pebbles and tie to the dancers legs

Jabali

Deer hide drum

Burro skull. The jaw is also used as a percussion instrument as the teeth are raked with a stick

Wooden masks with animal hair attached worn by dancers

La Danza del Venado:
The deer is revered in many parts of Mexico especially in Sinaloa and Sonora where this dance is still performed. The Deer Dance venerates this animal. The dancer is dressed in white pants and tunic signifying the purity of the deer. A red sash and bandana represent the blood of the deer. Atop the dancer's head is the dryed head of a buck with his antlers. Around his waist is a leather belt from which dangles a fringe to which are tied small silver bells called coyoles. His ankles to his knees are decorated with silk cocoons filled with small pebbles then sewn shut. These act a percussion instrument. The dancer carries maracas made of gourds to add to the sound. There are three or four instruments employed by other participants in the dance A flute made of Carrizo, a drum made of deer hide called a tambor de parche. Inverted gourds, called raspadores, are played with a stick made of madroño into which is carved serrations. The stick is drawn like a bow over the gourd to produce sound. .Another gourd is inverted in a tub of water, called a guaje hueco, which is hit with a stick producing a deep sound and represents the heart beat of the deer.
The dancer's movements represent the deer during the hunt. At the end the percussion slows, then dancer-deer falls to the earth writhing and trembling and when finally his heart stops all is silent.