“During the viceregal era we find descriptions of these parties that date from 1582 where the severity and solemnity with which pilgrimages were carried out, And as these were accompanied by three mudden individuals who played from time to time. Among these descriptions stands out of Holy Thursday of 1609, referred by torquemada, where he tells us that more than twenty thousand Indians among which more than three thousand penitents were, They left the chapel of San José de los Natural in procession ”.
This paragraph of the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples describes the beginning of Holy Week celebrations in Mexico. Today, this country in which they live near 90 Millions of Catholics, The second on the planet after Brazil, live in some places a particular religious festival mix of pre -Hispanic and Christian rites. Out of folklore that some traditions may seem, The party is deeply rooted in many of these indigenous peoples becoming some cases in its most important annual celebration.
To the rhythm of dances and drums they ask for the arrival of the rain
Of the numerous indigenous celebrations, perhaps that of the Tarahumara Indians, in Chihuahua, be the most unique. Unlike other celebrations around the Mexican Republic, For the Tarahumara people, Holy Week does not represent the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the eternal struggle between good and evil, They call it "nolirúache" (hanging around) and marks a kind of new year according to its agricultural calendar, When to the rhythm of dances and drums they ask for the arrival of the rain. These celebrations originated after the arrival of the first Spanish missionaries to the Sierra, who in an attempt of evangelization showed the Tarahumara some evangelical passages about the major week that were well received by the natives ”, They explain in Visiéxico.
In Sonora and Sinaloa, The Mayos-Yoeme indigenous (Yaquis) They recreate the passion and death of Jesus with a total religious syncretism. The so -called Pharisees are placed masks made of goat or pork skin and are dedicated for days to sing and dance entering the houses to ask for alms. As, The Pilate, The boss on horseback, It is giving orders to your Pharisees to collect money for the party. Then, Gloria's Saturday, All Pharisees become good and burn their masks in a big bonfire.
They are sinners and pay as such
Also in Sonora, The Yaqui tribe celebrates a party that begins to open to the public, Something before forbidden. The Yaquis also make a theatization of passion, death and resurrection of Jesus in which participants are divided into pure and impure. It is a staging very similar to that of the Mayos carrying here the Pharisees masks that prevent them from speaking or using their right hand. They are sinners and pay as such. In the period of Lent it is the religious authorities that have the power to lead the community. On Good Friday the houses are closed and there is no music or any type of public activity that is not sad prayers in the church as a sign of mourning.
For his part, The Coras, In the state of Nayarit, They have the habit of painting the body of white, Black and red. "Jews or erased are a young groups that, During the parties that celebrate Holy Week they represent an army of night demons (of fertility), that they are half -naked or painting their body with white and black or multicolored paint and carrying wooden masks and sabers as part of their outfit. The Christ-Sol (fundamental character of this celebration) He is personified in this region by the Nazarene child, And the task of the Jews is to chase him ", They explain about this celebration in unknown Mexico. But, In some places like the Nayar table the spectacular ceremony is still vetoed to foreigners.
They usually hit the trees during Gloria's Saturday to bear good fruits
Other curious celebrations are those of the Mazatecos de San Pedro Ixcatlán, In the state of Oaxaca, that tend to hit the trees during Gloria's Saturday to bear good fruits. “The Mazatecas indigenous festivities are attached to amalgamated traditions and customs with Catholic beliefs and practices, invoking the same to saints of the Catholic pantheon as to the "owners" or spirits of things, places and animals. All religious parties are accompanied by dances, Sports events with teams from other villages, Horse races or cockfights ", René Suaste explains, University researcher.
But, The most massive and busy Holy Week celebration in Mexico is that of Iztapalapa in Mexico City. It is a mestizo party that has its origin in an epidemic of cholera in 1833. “Then the peoples of Atlalico and Axomulco made a mandate (promise) before the Lord of the Cuevita presenting children and adolescents in the atrium until the epidemic will be eliminated. And 1843 The first representation of the main biblical passages with bulk images was made ”, Explain the millennium newspaper. Today those bulk characters have been modified by characters of flesh and blood and hundreds of thousands of people come to the representation. Be chosen, eg, To represent the Virgin is one of the greatest honors that can correspond to the young women of this community.
Taxco Holy Week is also very famous, In the state of Guerrero, in which the penitents submit to hard physical punishments and on Saturday the pastor gives a slight cap to the children of the town to remind them that they must behave well.
