Hispanic Heritage Month: Mexico's Bicenntenial

Zune Social: raiderette 87 | By: Alfa Santos | 10/01/2010 |

Hope - Union - Blood of Heroes
The night of September 15, 2010 marked Mexico's 200th anniversary of their independence from Spain. 

Contrary to ignorant belief, "Cinco de Mayo" (5th of May) is NOT Mexico's independence day. That's the same as saying that 24 June is the US's.
I schooled some poor sap about that once; he had the audacity to tell  me that I was wrong about when Mexico's independence day is. Imagine someone telling you that July 4th isn't USA's Independence Day! He has yet to even look in my direction. 

It being Hispanic Heritage Month and all, I don't want to make it seem like I'm focusing on Mexico just because I'm Mexican. But like I said in my last post, I don't talk about things I'm not familiar with. I don't know much about the specifics (general, yes) in cultures of countries other than the US and Mexico. So don't think that I'm playing favorites. I'm not. 
I'm very well aware that several other countries in "Latin" America celebrated their independence (from Spain) recently, El Salvador, with their bicentennial, being one of them.

But anyway. The Mexican government and every place of commerce had been making the biggest deal about the bicentennial since.. Well since I first noticed it in April. And they're still making a big deal about it. I think it's because the 100th anniversary of Mexico's revolution is this November.

So to commence the Independence Day festivities, the average Mexican (in Mexico) does not have to wait until the 16th to get piss ass drunk. No sir! Everything gets kicked off on the night of the 15th with El Grito de Dolores. It's where some leader-figure, such as a city's mayor, state governor, or the president, yells (el grito) "¡Viva _____!" And the crowd yells back "¡VIVA!" The first few "Viva ___" are usually the names of the Heroes de Independencia (Heroes of Independence). The last three are always "¡VIVA MEXICO!" The entire process leading up the El Grito is carried out with military precision and is a very formal act. 
The event in the D.F. was televised nationally by the federal government. The government only allowed their feeds to be televised and television stations had to air the federal government's telecast or not air anything at all.

 This is how it went down in a very large plaza in Mexico City called the Zócalo:
 (yes, it's all in Spanish. You can still just watch it)

The Mexican federal government has also made several bicentennial websites. This one is the official page. If you're too scared to do more than just glance at it, although I encourage you to explore it, they've also made an English version. I think the English version site is a lot less exciting. 

Something that really surprised me about the whole event is that the parade that ensued paid tribute to the autochthonous of Mexico. In the US, it's perfectly fine for someone to say that they are Native American. Hell, the US government gives people money every month if they can genetically (DNA test) prove that they are a high enough percentage Native. There are also reservation sponsored pow wows (I love those) held throughout the US that recognize the Natives of the land and their way of life. Not so in Mexico. Thanks to the deeply rooted Eurocentricity that is Spain's legacy in the America's, being indigenous is taboo. Maybe some of you have seen people with "Native Pride" tattooed somewhere on their body, or seen it as a decal on a vehicle. That is something nearly unheard of in Mexico. To be Native in Mexico is to be sub-human. Not to the extent that it once was, but you don't go around saying that you belong to whatever Native nation/tribe. But people are still discriminated against for being Native and/or deeply pigmented. Racial epithets are common place for those that don't have European traits. 

Yet, the Bicentennial Parade featured Natives from all over Mexico, (being Mexican does not equate with being Aztec [my ancestry fought against the Aztec]. There still are other tribes within Mexico's political boundaries), visual images of Quetzalcoatl (Aztec) and Kul Ku Kan (Mayan), and such pre-conquest floats. 

Can you see now how much of a "Whhhhhaaaaaa..?" moment the parade has on me? 
But the one thing that just about left me speechless was what happened before the parade. On the front of the front of.. errr rather, on the Cathedral. The Mexican federal government projected a slide show of iconic cultural and historical figures onto the Roman Catholic Cathedral in the Zócalo. "What's the big deal?" you ask. 

The one image that had a rather extensive "stay" on the Cathedral walls was that of one of the most legendary of all the gods that have ever existed in every single Meso American culture in one form or another: 
A façade of Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl. 

The god of corn, the wind, rain, the eastern star, knowledge and a plethora of other things. Attributed to be one of the creators of this world, the one responsible for the existence of humanity. Being projected onto the walls of the Cathedral. 

The images show Quetzalcoatl "going" in and out of the cathedral through the windows and doors and slithering everywhere else. 

I don't know who is responsible for having come up with that idea or if it was even intentional, but the symbolism of having Quetzalcoatl's image on the Cathedral is immense. 

 If you haven't already, you can see what I'm talking about in the video above, starting at 15:15 on through around 16:30.


For El Grito, my sister, my mom, and I went to a little event in Chicano Park in San Diego, CA. A little ironic, since we live in Mexico, I know, but it was a very intimate, rebellious, and fun event.

The speaker translates what she said in English after she's said everything in Spanish:


I got some more footage from that night, too. Feel free to check them out on my Facebook page. The videos start at "Traditional Dance from Morelia, Mexico" and end three videos and four days later with "'Fiesta Indigena Chiapaneca': Marimba Nandayapa", and the photo album to go along with everything can be found here. And yes, everything is in English. 



Los Links:
 Oh, and it's: keht-zahl-coe-at-l.

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