Guelaguetza

The tradition & historical record

The Guelaguetza (; Spanish: [ɡelaˈɣetsa]), also known as Los lunes del cerro ('Mondays on the Hill'), is an annual indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca, capital of the state of Oaxaca, and nearby villages. The celebration features traditional costumed dancing by gender-separated groups. It includes native food, and statewide artisanal crafts, such as pre-Hispanic style textiles. Each costume, or traje, and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning. While the celebration has attracted an increasing number of tourists, it is primarily one of deep cultural importance for the indigenous peoples of the state and is important for the survival of these cultures. ¹

Oaxaca has a large native indigenous population, well over 30% of the state, compared to 10% for Mexico as a whole (going by 2020 INEGI ethnic report). Indigenous culture in Oaxaca remains strong. More than 300,000 people are monolingual in one of a wide variety of native indigenous languages, and many others are bilingual, with Spanish as their second language, or follow a predominantly indigenous lifestyle. Unlike Yucatán, where the indigenous culture consists of closely related groups of the same culture (Mayan), the indigenous people in Oaxaca are from many different cultures. The Zapotec and Mixtec are the two largest ethnic groups in terms of population and area, but there are numerous other indigenous ethnicities, each with their own unique traditions. They speak distinct, mutually unintelligible languages. The Guelaguetza celebration was a tradition that long preceded the arrival of the Spanish; it is a defining characteristic of Oaxacan regional culture. Its origins and traditions developed as earth-based, religious celebrations related to the worship of corn (maize) and the corn god. The word Guelaguetza comes from the Zapotec language and is usually interpreted as the "reciprocal exchanges of gifts and services." This is in keeping with the importance in indigenous cultures of sharing, reciprocity, and extended community. Like many indigenous traditions in Mexico, the festival adapted to and absorbed Christian traditions in the centuries of cultural interchange after Spanish colonization. ¹

The Guelaguetza is also known as a celebration honoring Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Virgen del Carmen), which emphasizes Marianism, combined with the surviving beliefs. In the early part of the 20th century, a severe earthquake in the 1920s destroyed most of the city. Afterward, leaders reorganized the festival as a statewide cultural event to help rebuild the morale of the peoples of Oaxaca, naming it "La Guelaguetza de la Raza". The event began to take on a more modern form, as an opportunity for each people or region to showcase their unique dance. It also began to become more of a performance than a ritual festival. In the 1970s, the city built a stadium dedicated to the Guelaguetza on a prominent place on Fortin Hill. National and international tourism have increased since the ancient city of Oaxaca and Monte Albán was designated in 1987 as a UNESCO world heritage city. In November 1994, a modern, limited access highway was completed to the city. Before the highway, transportation was so slow that it was virtually impossible to journey there for a weekend at the Guelaguetza from other areas, such as Mexico City. The rugged, often remote, mountainous high-altitude terrain discouraged casual visitors. In 2010 the city completed a new structure for the festival, also built as an open-air amphitheater built into the Cerro del Fortín, overlooking center city. It includes more seating, as well as areas for bands and performance stages, and can support modern lighting and sound. ¹

In contemporary Oaxaca, indigenous communities from the state gather at the Guelaguetza to present their native cultures, mainly in the form of music, costumes, dances, and food. It is the most famous indigenous gathering of its kind in Mexico. ¹

Since 1969, the Guelaguetza has been celebrated on the two Mondays immediately following July 16, except when the first Monday falls on July 18, the day on which Benito Juárez died in 1872. A Zapotec, he became a lawyer and politician, and was the first indigenous president of Mexico, serving from 1858 to 1872. In those years, the celebrations are postponed for one week, falling on July 25 and August 1 (as occurred in 2011). Concurrent events associated with the festival, such as concerts and plays, are all held during the month of July. In 2020 the festival was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico, except for virtual events. ¹

As the festival became a bigger tourist attraction, some indigenous leaders objected to the ancient traditions being used for commercial purposes. Some people in Oaxaca have supported a Populist Guelaguetza, or a return to the celebrations as they believe they were practiced, for the peoples themselves, before European colonialism and the current system. In 2005 the regional government planned to conduct two performances a day of dance groups for each of the two Mondays. Many traditionalists believed this was disrespectful to indigenous culture, and an attempt to appropriate it by powerful economic forces and political interests, in order to accommodate more monied, ticket-purchasing, national and international tourists. Grassroots opposition formed, and the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) (in Spanish, the Asamblea Popular del Pueblo de Oaxaca) organized out of groups that were protesting. The Partido Revolucionario Institutional (PRI) - led state government and its leader tried to suppress the protests with armed confrontation, which resulted in deaths of three reporters. In 2006, the government-sponsored Guelaguetza was not held at the Fortín hill as planned. Instead, the APPO organized a free, shared, "Popular Guelaguetza", trying to return it to the people. The following year, the 2007 official Guelguetza celebration was boycotted by the APPO. But their attempts to hold a Popular Guelaguetza were thwarted by government police repression and state-sponsored military violence throughout the city. ¹

Oaxacan immigrants to the US have celebrated Guelaguetza there. In the U.S. the immigrants typically hold the Guelaguetza celebrations on Sundays, in keeping with standard work schedules, and usually in the summer months, ranging from late June to early August. Usually they have only one day of celebrations, but may have a party the day before, similar to the calenda, a parade in Oaxaca. The Guelaguetzas in the U.S. consist of traditional dances performed by ethnic groups. Organizers usually provide for stands where companies or individuals can sell typical goods and food of Oaxaca, sometimes imported from Oaxaca for authenticity. Musical bands are brought from Oaxaca to accompany the dancers. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Guelaguetza”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Guelaguetza is indigenous cultural event in Oaxaca, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²