Annotations for Communities: Indigenous People

Latino USA commentator, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, a recipient of the MacArthur Genius Award, is based in California. In Brownsville, Texas, a group of Chicanos and elders from Indigenous populations in the US and Mexico gathered recently for what they called the 17th Encuentro of the National Chicano Human Rights Council. The group is part of a movement which began in the 60s to help Mexican Americans reconnect with their Indigenous roots. Today, the movement is taking a new turn involving Chicanos in a spiritual reawakening foretold in ancient Indian myths, which caused them to action on human rights and the environment. From Brownsville, Lillie Rodulfo and Lucy Edwards prepared this report.

[natural sound] This weekend, council members have brought their families to camp on the grounds of the Casa de Colores. The multicultural center sits on 360 acres of prime farmland along the U.S.-Mexican border order.

[conch chell sounds] With the sound of a conch shell, a Mexican shaman, Andre Segura, calls a group to worship in a sacred dance of the Indigenous that the Aztecs have practiced for thousands of years. They also are called to reunite with the Indians of Mexico in their common struggle for equal rights. Elders like Segura say when Chicanos answer the call of the Danza, they are joining in a revival of the Indigenous spirit that is happening throughout the Americas. [Ceremony natural sounds] "This reawakening of the spiritual traditions," the elders say, "was foretold by Indian leaders centuries ago. Danzas and other Indigenous ceremonies carry a strong message of preserving the earth and all its people."

Andre Segura's Danza Conchera contains the essence of Aztec or Toltec thought in the entire worldview.

Chicano author Carlos Flores explains what happens when a Chicano worships in the sacred tradicion of the Danza.

When the Mexican-American decides to call himself a Chicano, basically what he's doing is declaring publicly that he's an Indian. In effect, what we're seeing here then is Mexican-Americans through their connection with an Indian shaman, I guess you could say, practicing the sacred.

Susana Renteria of the Austin-based PODER, People Organized in Defense of Earth and its Resources, offered passionate testimony at the conference. Her group has worked hard to focus attention on environmental racism in the Mexican-American communities in Austin.

They take toxic chemicals and inject it into Mother Earth. They inject it. It's like when you put heroin in your veins, and you're contaminating your whole blood system. That's what they're doing to Mother Earth. The water is the blood in her veins, and they're injecting these chemicals into, and they wonder why we have so much illnesses, why we have so much despair.

[meeting natural sounds] The council heard hours of testimony like this on a wide range of issues, bringing into focus everyday realities for Chicanos, such as the disproportionate number of Mexican American prisoners sentenced to die and the alarmingly high incidents of babies born in the Rio Grande Valley with incomplete or missing brains. Opata Elder Gustavo Gutierrez of Arizona, one of the founders of the council, offers this prophetic warning.

The moment that we start losing our relationship between Mother Earth and ourselves, then is when we get into all this trouble, and I think that what has happened to the people that are in power, they have the multinational corporation. They have lost their feeling about what is their relationship between the Earth, and the only thing they can think about is how to make money, and once that is the main focus, how to make money, then I feel that we're really in a lot of trouble.

[Danza natural sounds] The shaman, Andre Segura, says, "The Indigenous ceremonies that are part of every council meeting provide a spiritual foundation to unite Chicanos, as they speak out for the rights and the rights of all Indigenous."

Buscar dientro de su corazon, dientro de su-

Search your heart and soul as to how you feel about the Indigenous. The Chicano roots come from Mexico, and accepting this will unite the Chicano people.

[Singing, natual sounds] The Chicano Human Rights Council was formed in the 1980s to address the human rights violations in the southwest. The council teaches Chicanos how to document abuses that affect their community. The testimony they hear in Brownsville will be presented at international forums, such as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. (Singing) For Latino USA, with Lucy Edwards, I'm Lily Rodulfo. (Singing)

Will the predatory Statue of Liberty, devour the Virgin of Guadalupe, or are they merely going to dance a sweaty cumbia. Will Mexico become a toxic and cultural waste dump of the US and Canada? Who will monitor the behavior of the three governments? Given the exponential increase of American trash and media culture in Mexico, what will happen to our indigenous traditions, social and cultural rituals, language, and national psyche? Will the future generations become hyphenated Mexican-Americans, brown-skinned gringos and canochis or upside-down Chicanos? And what about our northern partners? Will they slowly become Chi-Canadians, Waspbacks and Anglomalans? Whatever the answers are, NAFTA will profoundly affect our lives in many ways. Whether we like it or not, a new era has begun and the new economic and cultural topography has been designed for us. We must find our new place and role within this new federation of US republics.

Latino USA commentator Guillermo Gomez-Pena is an award-winning performance artist based in California. In 1991, he was a recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant. Well, what do you think of NAFTA? Give us a call and leave a brief message at 1-800-535-5533.

The musical style known as La Nueva Canción, the new song movement, was beginning in the mid sixties and for 20 years, the signature sound of Latin American music. Founded by singers Violeta Parra and Víctor Jara of Chile and Atahualpa Yupanqui in Argentina. La Nueva Canción sought to create an awareness of Latin America's Indigenous musical heritage while addressing the region's political situation. Today, as younger generations identify more with the Rock in español, or Rock in Spanish movement, La Nueva Canción has lost some of its popularity. But a group of Latin American musicians living in Madison Wisconsin, believes strongly that La Nueva Canción is still alive and well. Even as they strive for a new sound fusing musical styles. Betto Arcos prepared this profile of the musical group called Sotavento.

[Transition Music]

Founded in 1981 by a group of Latin Americans living in Madison, Wisconsin. Sotavento's early recordings focused on the legacy of the Nueva canción movement. Traditional music primarily from South American regions played on over 30 instruments, but as the group grew musically and new members replaced the old ones, their approach to music making also changed.

[Un Siete--Sotavento]

For percussionist. Orlando Cabrera, a native of Puerto Rico, the band search for a new sound helps each member bring his or her own musical background.

We get together and someone starts playing a rhythm based on some traditional music, let's say from Mexico, from Peru. This person might ask, why do you play something there? Some percussion, for example, and at least in my case, my first approach will be to play what I grew up with. The things I feel more comfortable with. So if it fits and it sounds good, then we'll just go ahead and do something.

We are a hybrid. I mean we're all kind of different flowers that are being sort of sewn together and planted together, and what comes out is a very, very different kind of flower.

[Flute music] The hybrid group always searching for its own sound is how founding member Anne Fraioli defines the music of Sotavento and in their last recording, mostly original compositions. Sotavento takes Latin American music one step ahead by blending instruments and styles to form a new one.

[Amacord--Sotavento]

Sotavento's approach to composing and playing music is the group's artistic response to a top 40 music industry that overlooks creativity and experimentation. For Francisco López, a native of Mexico, this commercial environment and the group's principles of Nueva Canción have a lot to do with Sotavento's search for a new sound.

Nueva Canción has always been alive and always been alive because there's always somebody out there that is trying to produce new stuff, and that's what Nueva Canción is all about. Somebody that is uncomfortable with situations. Say for example, the commercialization of music.

According to lead vocalist, Laura Fuentes. The fact that the group's music may be heard on a light jazz or new age radio station proves that Sotavento's music is what is happening right now and that it is not completely folkloric or passe.

[Esto Es Sencillo--Sotavento]

However, Laura Fuentes believes that Sotavento's music is not specifically designed to sell. Sharing what they feel as artists is hard.

But it's worth it. I can't see us putting on shiny clothes and high heels trying to sell somebody something that we are not, something that people seem to be more willing to buy. I'd rather challenge people to hear the beauty in something different, something new.

[El Destajo--Sotavento]

For Fuentes, a native of Chile, Sotavento is also a way of establishing a connection between an artistic musical expression and its historical background.

[El Destajo--Sotavento]

An example of this connection is a Afro Peruvian style, known as Festejo, a musical style created by a small black community in Peru as a result of the living conditions they experienced during slavery.

[El Destajo--Sotavento]

In keeping with the tradition of the new song movement, Sotavento arranged music for a poem by Cuba's Poet Laureate, Nicolás Guillén. The poem called, Guitarra is for Sotavento's and Farioli a symbol of the voice of the people.

[Guitarra--Sotavento]

Wherever people are, there's going to be a voice, and I think my guitarra represents that voice, that's music, and I think it's also saying that people have to hold on to their roots. They have to hold on to their musical traditions, because it's those traditions that are really going to allow them to express who they really are, where they really come from.

[Guitarra--Sotavento]

This summer Sotavento will perform in Milwaukee and Madison, and in the fall there will begin a tour of Spain. The recording called El Siete was released on Redwood records. For Latino USA, this is Betto Arcos, Colorado.

[Highlight--Music--El Vez] You're pretty el vez, stand in line, make love to you baby, till next time. Cuz I'm El Vez. I spell 'H' hombre, hombre...(Cover of I'm a Man--Bo Diddley)

16 years after the death of Elvis Presley. Elvis lives in many forms. For instance, the dozens of Elvis impersonators out there, the teen Elvis, the Black Elvis, the Jewish Elvis, flying Elvis's galore. Pues, what do you think of an Elvis con salsa, or the Elvis for Aztecs? With us on Latino USA is someone who's been called, not an Elvis impersonator, but an Elvis translator. He's Robert Lopez of East Los Angeles, also known as El Vez, the Mexican Elvis. So tell me about it, Robert Lopez. Why Elvis for the Latino community?

Well, I'll tell you, there are more than dozens. There's actually thousands of Elvis impersonators. There are more Elvis impersonators than people realize. Elvis impersonators in all United States and all over different countries. So, it's like we're our own minority.

[Está Bien Mamacita--El Vez]

I would say about 15% of Elvis's impersonators are Latino. You'd be surprised because all over California and all in Illinois, there are many other Latino Elvis impersonators. But I'm the first Mexican Elvis, I take my heritage and make it part of my show.

So when and how did el espíritu, the spirit, of Elvis possess you?

[Laughter] Well, I used to curate a art gallery in Los Angeles called La Luz de Jesus we were a folk art gallery. And I curated a show all on Elvis Presley. And I had always been an Elvis fan, but all this Elvis exposure just kind of made me go over the edge. And I had met some friends and they were saying, "Well, Robert, you should go to Memphis because every year they have this Elvis tribute," which is kind of like Dia de los Muertos for Elvis. It's like a big festival of swap meets, fan clubs, Elvis impersonators galore. And so I said, "Okay, I'm going to go." I had dared myself to go to Memphis and do the show. I would say, "Okay, I'll do El Vez, the Mexican Elvis." And I wrote the songs on ... Rewrote the songs on the plane, and my main idea was to play with the boombox in front of the people waiting in front of Graceland. But as luck would have it, I got on a Elvis impersonator show, and the showrunner was so big, by the time I got back in LA it was already in the LA Times. So, El Vez, the Mexican Elvis had been born.

[Transition--Music--El Vez]

Some people have called you a cross-cultural caped crusader singing for truth, justice and the Mexican-American way. So for you, it's more than just musical entertainment, you've got a message here in the music that you're bringing.

Yeah, well, first of all, I do love Elvis and I'm the biggest Elvis fan, and you can see that when you see the show. But it's like I do try to show the cross-culture. Elvis is the American dream or part of the American dream. I mean, there's many American dreams, but Elvis was part of the American dream. But I feel that American dream, poor man, start really with nothing to become the most famous, biggest entertainment tour of all the world is not just a job for a white man. It's for a Black man. It's for a Chinese man. It's for an immigrant. It's for a Mexican. It's for a woman. It can happen to anyone. And so rather than just say, "Okay, this is a white man's dream in a white United States," I change it and I show everyone they can make it fit to their story too.

[Singing] One two three four, I'm caught in a trap, do do do do. I can't walk out, because my foots caught in this border fence, do do do do do. Why can't you see, statue of liberty, I am your homeless, tired and weary...

[Immigration Time--El Vez]

What do you think Elvis would've thought of you singing and changing the words to the songs?

Oh, he would've enjoyed it very, he'd say, "El Vez, I like your show very much." He would like it.

Some of the songs that you've changed, I just want to go through some of the names because I think that they're so wonderful. I mean, instead of Blue Suede shoes, you have ...

Huaraches azul. Instead of That's Alright Mama, Esta Bien Mamacita. One of my favorites is [singing] ‘You ain’t nothing but a chihuahua, yapping all the time’. We start the show with the lighter easy songs, the familiar ones, and then we get them with the one-two punch and get them talking about political situations, sexual situations, and rock and roll situations.

[En el Barrio--El Vez] En el barrio, people dont you understand, this child needs a helping hand, or he's going to be an angry young man one day. Take a look at you and me-

Robert Lopez, also known as El Vez, is now negotiating with the producers of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for a possible TV sitcom. He'll also be playing Las Vegas for the first time.

Summer may be drawing to a close, but for as long as the warm weather lasts, Latinos in one area of New York City make their summer getaway to Orchard Beach. Located in the Bronx, Orchard Beach is the hottest spot every weekend for free outdoor salsa and merengue shows, and for Latino politicians to campaign for votes. Mainly, though, it's a place where Latino New Yorkers can just relax. Mandalit del Barco prepared this sound portrait of Orchard Beach.

Yo, this is Orchard Beach in the boogie-down Bronx, the Puerto Rican Riviera.

If you can't get out of the city on vacation, this is the place to go. This is our version of Cancun, our version of Puerto Rico.

Tell you about this beach. It's blacks, whites, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Indians, Iranians, you name it. [Laughter] But uh-

This beach is full of culture you know. This beach, you got all kind of Latin Americans. Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Cubans. Get all kind of heritage walking around and having a good time, dancing. There's music bands over there.

[Highlight--Music--Cuban music]

I love it here because you don't see your brother, your sister, for 20 years. Hey brother, remember me? Oh, remember, I was your wife a long time ago? [Laughter]

This is the only place that we come here to forget, and not be- right, enjoy the summer. Because it's good being here, you know away from things, away from problems, away from home.

What do you try to forget about when you're here?

Stress.

Stress. Stress. Problems. Stress.

Work, accounting. Living in the ghetto, which is the most toughest part.

Right. When you come here, everything is different. When you go back home, you're back to the same old thing, same old-

Mostly we're all in projects. You know bad neighborhood, worrying about looking over our shoulders. So, this is a place where we just get away. Everybody's just being themselves, hanging out. We don't have to worry about someone coming behind us and trying to do something. This is relaxing. That's why we come here.

Everybody's trying to get away from that bad environment out there. You know what I'm saying? The shooting and the drugs and all that. Over here, it's not a bad environment. I'm saying, you don't see too many fights over here. I haven't seen a fight broke out yet. If anything, everybody likes trying to help each other. I come here to try have a nice time with my family. Have a few beers, smoke a blunt. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Really. Forget about everyday work and get out of the hot steamy streets, dirty filthy streets and stuff.

Do you ever go into the water?

Not really. I don't like going in that water, cause it's filthy. That's the truth. Where's everybody at? Look, the sand. Very few in the water. And if they're in the water, they're only in up to their knees. That's about it.

I just got to say, the water is very polluted.

Look what happened to his face. It's all red. Jellyfish got in his face.

Yeah, it hurts. It hurts a lot.

I saw there was lot of suckers in there. I wouldn't get in the pool now. I wouldn't put my finger on the pool.

It's not about going in the water. The water's no good. It's just about hanging out on the boardwalk and meeting people.

That's America. You know what I mean? Turn loose. That's what it's all about. You could be you, here in Orchard Beach. It's a symbol of all cultures exposing and expressing what America's about in one little corner of the world. [Laughter]

[Highlight--Music--Cuban music]

Our summertime audio snapshot of Orchard Beach, the Bronx, was produced by Mandalit del Barco.

Last year, the so-called Quincentenary, the commemoration of the 500 years since Columbus encountered this hemisphere, caused a great deal of controversy and also inspired many artists. The Columbus theme, and the stereotypical images in history and popular culture of the natives, the conqueror and the conquered, still continue to be a source of artistic inspiration. Recently, an interdisciplinary arts project curated by artists Coco Fusco and Latino USA commentator Guillermo Gomez-Pena opened at the Otis Art Gallery in Los Angeles. It's called The Year of the White Bear, and it features performance, visual arts, and radio art. Betto Arcos prepared this report.

As a visitor walks into the exhibition of The Year of the White Bear, images of the past and the present provoke a sense of humor and seriousness. With the title Mickey Meets His Match, a ceramic figure of a pre-Hispanic warrior sits next to a Mickey Mouse doll on a wall, a painting of Columbus holding a slice of pizza by Chicano artist Alfred Quiroz. Across from it, a custom of Queen Isabella designed by Puerto Rican artist Pepon Osorio and worn by one of the curators during a performance. The Year of the White Bear was conceived as a reflection on the 500 years of the so-called discovery of America, and according to one of the curators, performance artist Guillermo Gomez-Pena, the exhibition is also meant to dispute preconceived notions of what constitutes political art.

Political art is not supposed to be humorous. Political art is supposed to be solemn, didactic, somber, and I think that there is more sneaky ways to be politically effective. Now, the common goal is to begin a reflection about the Columbus question and what is after the Columbus question.

The title of the exhibition was taken from the name given to the Spaniards by the Paez Indians of Colombia. They called the Europeans, "Pale in color and covered with hair, White Bears" Gomez-Pena says that the main idea behind the installation of The Year of the White Bear is to create a multicentric, multifaceted portrait of the debates that were generated around the quincentenary and that still have not been resolved. Within this debate, a number of issues are touched on including the North American Free Trade Agreement and the current anti-immigration sentiment.

[Violin Music] Dear Spanish Inquisition, dear Border Patrol, dear American culture, for 500 years we've been invisible to you. Recordar, desandar, performar.

In a viewing room, built like an entrance to a pre-Hispanic pyramid with the Aztec calendar above in a sculpture of the Mayan god Chaac down below is an ongoing slideshow of images of past and recent history, pictures of ancient cities and peoples that dissolve into modern day events like the Gulf War and attention along the US Mexico border, with the soundtrack that provides a narrative as the audience watches and listens quietly.

San cristal [unintelligible] Un official chronicler de la pintados. And I just discovered you is therefore--

The hybrid nature of the installation is but one of the many ambiguities The Year of the White Bear instills in the senses of the visitor. From art piece to art piece one is faced with images of the past right next to current events. On a wall, a velvet painting of LA Mayor Richard Riordan holding a book like a Bible. It's title, "INS Mexico as seen through foreign eyes".

Here at the INS, we understand immigration since that's how our ancestors arrived to this land of opportunity. What we have are-

From the gallery ceiling, a voice that sounds like that of a Border Patrol agent.

Gone are the days of reasonably regulated entry that was beneficial to all. What we now have is a full scale invasion into America by the poor peoples of the world, a flood of homeless, uneducated, job-stealing criminals that is threatening our national sovereignty.

The artists and the curators of The Year of the White Bear would like visitors to come out of the exhibit with a broader sense of reflection about the relationship between the past and the present, and a consciousness about the many perspectives on the founding of the Americas. Artists Robert Sanchez, who along with Richard Lou, created In Search of Columbus and Other White Peoples says this piece is meant to call into question certain issues about history.

What is the past really about and what is the effect on current issues happening today with toda la gente. You know, how have we gotten to this point and survived and kept intact? Certain things that have to do with very strong cultural ties, but at the same time having to have battled those things that have to do with how history has been perceived by those that are in power, so to speak. The powers that be.

The exhibit continues at the Otis Gallery in Los Angeles until November 6th. For Latino USA, this is Beto Arcos. (Guitar Music)

[Mexica ceremony/danza sounds: flutes, shell rattles]

In many Latin American countries, people believe that the spirits of the dead return to celebrate with the living on the first two days of November, los Días de los Muertos, the days of the dead. On those days, people visit cemeteries, march in processions, or make ofrendas or altars to their loved ones who have passed, with flowers, candies, candles, liquor and sweet bread, all of the food and drinks they loved in life. These celebrations are festive and colorful, reflecting the indigenous belief that death and life are part of the same never-ending cycle. Here in this country, el Día de los Muertos has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, and nowhere more so than in San Francisco, where the celebration begins with a procession through the city's Mission District.

Okay. Now we like to ask everybody to please line up against the fence in order for us to start the procession.

I think this procession and the honoring of the dead should continue, because in that manner, we bring them back. El festival naturalmente es para recordar los Muertos y en esa forma viven. [Drumming, flutes, shell rattles]

It's very fun, and I'm here to honor my great-grandfather who died. [Drumming and whistling]

[Drumming and whistling] Dia de Muertos antiguamente era una celebración Azteca para celebrar los guerreros que murieron en batalla…[transition to English dub] The day of the dead was an Aztec tradition to honor warriors or hunters who died in battle or during a hunt. Today, it's the same spirit of joy, celebrating those who passed on[transition to original audio]…sostiene el mismo Espíritu de alegría y celebrar los difuntos.

Que vivan los muertos, la tradición sigue mas fuerte cada dia. [Drumming, singing]

[Clapping] The Chicano here in San Francisco, and throughout the Southwest, wants to retain their ancestral culture. They're Americans, but they're very special Americans. They're not English Americans or European Americans. I think what they want to do now is reintroduce this culture that's being lost in Mexico.

[Highlight--Natural Sounds--Live Music in Spanish]

La verdad que si es una celebración preciosa…[transition to English dub] It really is such a beautiful celebration. It's my first time here from Mexico, and I never imagined so many people. It's beautiful, right down to the dances representing the Day of the Dead. [Background singing]

[Music, horns, city streets]

So what do you think about the celebration?

I think it's a great idea. I think we should have it every day of the year. Absolutely.

Que te gusta?

The skeleton. They’re not scary for me. [Laughter] Some are funny. [Horns]

Para mi también la celebración tiene un carácter de fiesta…[transition to English dub] For me, this celebration is a very festive time. But it's also an opportune moment to protest some forms of death that should not be repeated, like torture and disappearances [transition to original audio]…por ejemplo la gente desaparecida.[Horns, drums]

[Drumming, horns and whistles]

[Crowd cheering] The Day of the Dead has entered the United States with the exodus of so many Latinos from Latin America, from Central America to this country, so that now it is unmistakably going to be an annual holiday. Eventually, I'm sure, next year, it'll start being commercialized. You'll probably see Safeway having Day of the Dead specials and Macy's even. They're going to commercialize. They're going to come into it. But right now, it's very beautiful because it's the beginning. They've always had it, but never like this.

Que vivan los muertos! [unintelligible] los muertos! Y vivan todos los muertos que se murieron por vivos! Y mueran todos los muertos que sigan siendo muertos vivos! [Applause, cheering, whistling]

The Day of the Dead is a spiritual celebration revolving around the communion between the living and the dead. In Boulder, Colorado, an art exhibit called Noche de Muertos: A Chicano Journey into a Michoacan Night celebrates the traditional roots of this cultural celebration, while making it a vital part of modern day Latino reality. From Boulder, Colorado, Betto Arcos prepared this report.

[Transition--Natural Sounds--Choir vocals]

The exhibition was conceived around the theme of a traditional cemetery, but the most powerful images are the altars and paintings that celebrate death and life, as in a large canvas painting of a cemetery at night. Standing near tombs covered with cempasúchil or marigold flowers, a man sings and plays the guitar. Artist Carlos Frésquez. [Choir vocals]

This particular painting is about life. It's about living. It's not about death. It's not about death. There's one woman, Calavera Catrina, she's dressed to celebrate. And really, that's what this is. It's a celebration. It's a magical piece. It's not a true reality. It's my reality.[Choir vocals]

Silvia...Mercedes...Alonso...Lupita [Choir vocals]

For inspiration leading to the exhibition of Noche de Muertos: Chicano Journey into a Michoacan Night, in 1991, a Chicano artist from Colorado traveled to the Mexican state of Michoacan.

We went into Michoacan with the intent of experiencing the days of the dead with the indigenous peoples of Mexico, in this case, Pátzcuaro and Tzintzuntzan, and coming back with that experience, and documenting it through Chicano interpretations of the visual arts.

George Rivera is professor of sociology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and co-curator of Noche de Muertos: Chicano Journey into Michoacan Night.

We went there to discover ourselves through the cultural mirror of the people of Mexico as they viewed and celebrate the days of the dead. [Choir vocals]

In Noche de Muertos, the artist also paid tribute to the life and struggle of farm worker leader Cesar Chavez, who passed away last April. [Choir vocals]

And alongside the exhibit, you will see for nichos that are all tributes to Cesar Chavez, the farm workers, and Dolores Huerta. They were done by Megan Rodriguez, Tony Ortega, Aileen Lucero, and myself, as, again, the nichos with rosaries, with candles, celebrating what Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and the Farm Worker Movement was all about. [Choir vocals]

The altar is shaped like an inverted pyramid, representing the eagle emblem of the Farm Workers Union, and built with empty letters boxes sent by the UFW's office in Salinas, California. [Choir vocals and whispers]

[Whispers]...Cesar...Juanita...[Whispers, voices]

Noche de Muertos also features a number of collaborative altars in memory of deceased relatives. One of them called Altar a Nuestras Abuelas includes an image of the Lady of Guadalupe, surrounded by photographs of the artist's grandmothers. Artist Sylvia Montero. [Whispers]

We just always have felt that we would not be the Chicanas we are today if it had not been for our grandmothers and their experiences in their lifetime, how things have changed. I believe that there's an evolutionary process to becoming Chicana, and I think the grandmother's a part of that evolution of how we become who we are.

Another prominent altar is dedicated to the memory of the early '50s rocker Ritchie Valens. The altar is designed as a stage, with Ritchie Valens at the center, and two little angels holding an electric guitar on top. It's the work of artists Rick Manzanares and Carlos Frésquez.

Rick Manzanares talked to his aunt and asked, what was his favorite things to do? She said, "He loved to eat, as we all do, and he liked to roller skate as a child." So we have a pair of roller skates. And what he left was his music, and that's still alive today.

For all of those involved in Noche de Muertos: Chicano Journey into a Michoacán Night, the exhibit is more than just an art show. George Rivera says, "It's a celebration and a revitalization of Chicano culture."

And so, Noche de Muertos and Día de los Muertos was important for us to go there and document in some way so that we and the generations to come will remember what our ancestors and the people who came from Mexico and migrated here to this country, how they understood and interpreted their dead, and how they respected that within the culture. [singing]

[Choir vocals]

Currently, an exhibition at the University of Colorado Art Galleries, Noche de Muertos: Chicano Journey into Michoacan Night moved to the Museo de Las Americas in Denver until December 4th. In 1995, it will travel to Amsterdam and other European cities. For Latino USA, this is Betto Arcos in Boulder, Colorado.

Nearly 500 years ago when the mighty Aztec empire was in trouble, early one December morning, so the story goes, a humble Indian named Juan Diego had a vision, a brown-skinned goddess appeared to him. Today, she is known as the Virgin of Guadalupe, La Virgen de Guadalupe. Her image is one of the best known Latino cultural icons, and she's venerated throughout the Americas. Maria Martin prepared this report.

Every people at certain historical moments that marks them, that allows them to be that people. Guadalupe stands at the very birth of Mexicanidad.

This music is from Eduard Garcia's opera, Our Lady of Guadalupe, performed at the Guadalupe Theater in San Antonio. Like countless other works of Hispanic music and literature, it tells the story of how on an early December morning in 1531, an Aztec Indian named Juan Diego saw an apparition on the very spot where a temple to an Aztec goddess, Tonantzin, once stood.

That night, I was awakened by voices, whirling clouds, rainbows. And finally, the apparition of the Holy Lady, she appeared dressed as an Aztec princess. When I asked her who she was, she told me she was the Mother of God. She also told me that she had come to protect her people, meaning us.

[Background--natural sound--performance] In every sense, you could say that the Indigenous people of Mexico needed protection. Only 12 years had passed since the Spaniards had conquered the Aztec empire, enslaving many Indians. Countless others had fallen victim to war, brutality, and disease. Father Jerome Martinez spoke about this historical period at a conference about the Virgin of Guadalupe in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In a very real sense, one can say that the Aztec peoples lost any reason for existence. Their universe as they had seen it had just come apart. They felt their gods had abandoned them, the cosmic order was out of whack. There was no real reason to continue going on.

But the lady who appeared to Juan Diego said she would change all that. "I will be the hope for you and those like you," are the words she is said to have spoken. She addressed Juan Diego in his native language, so the story goes. "Juanito, my son, go to the Bishop," she said, "And tell him to build a church here on the hill of Tepeyac."

When I got to the Bishop, he relentlessly told me to be sane. "Juan Diego, before you utter a single word, let me remind you that lies directed against the church are considered blasphemy," and then he went on and on about rebellions, and inquisitions, things I knew nothing of. Then in my utter frustration, I threw open the cloak and showed him the roses, which they all acknowledge would be a miracle. And there, much to my surprise, was imprinted the image of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.

[Highlight--natural sound--performance]

The picture imprinted on Juan Diego's cloak showed a young brown-skinned woman standing on a moon, her back to the golden sun, her cloak covered with stars. Every detail of the image meant something to the Indians, and in a short time, a cult developed. Patrick Flores is the Catholic Archbishop of San Antonio, Texas.

Our Lady came on December 12, 1531 and within the next 10 years, over 10 million Indians had been baptized. No longer were the Franciscans trying to convince them into persuading, but they were coming trying to persuade the Franciscans to baptize him because they would say, "The Mother of God has appeared to one us," like one of us, And we want to belong to her son, and they wanted to be baptized.

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La Virgen no le hablo a ningun sacerdote, no le hablo al obispo, no le hablo al Virrey, no le hablo a ningun Español, le hablo a un Indio…

Mexican Indian Andre Segura, says the Virgin of Guadalupe did not appear first to a priest, bishop, or viceroy. She spoke to an Indian, he says, in the Indian language. Segura is a teacher of Indigenous religious traditions, an elder who keeps the old ways alive.

En el pensamiento Idigena Azteca, Nahuatl, Mexica, Tenhochca o de todo este continente…. [English dub]

According to the Aztecs and other Indigenous peoples of this continent, there exists before everything a primordial law of duality, which guides all the universe, the positive and the negative, the masculine and the feminine. Therefore, the feminine presence is very important. Our ancestors recognized this concept of a cosmic motherhood which coincides with many other philosophies, including Christianity.

Y pore so huyeron un concepto de la maternidad cosmica. Y que coincide con todos las tradiciones de todo el mundo incluso la Cristiana.

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As the ancient Mexican stands to honor the goddess, Tonantzin, or Coatlaxopeuh and later Guadalupe, so today in Mexican and Mexican American communities ritual dances are performed for the Brown Virgin. The dancers, called danzantes or matachines, wear colorful costumes reminiscent of the ancient Aztecs. Men, women, and sometimes children dance a simple two step to the sound of the drum, and the rattle.

The danzantes are inside the church now. They come in and say, "Thank you, God. Thank you, Virgencita." And then when the Virgen appeared, that's where the mestizaje heritage started, the beautiful confluences of the blood of Spain and the blood of the Indian. She came 450 years ago to Juan Diego, and they danced in the spirit of love and the spirit of thankfulness, and the spirit of gratitude, and faith. Sometimes they dance hours and hours, and hours. That's all they have of themselves and their beautiful, beautiful gifts of being alive, thanking them for getting them well, for getting Abuelita well, or getting any type of manda. Sometimes, they don't have anything to offer but themselves, so that's why the dance is very important. Muy importante.

Pues yo le pregunto a ellos, que si yo arreglaba para aca para Estados Unidos yo iba a bailar año por año y hacerles faltar a la Virgen de Guadalupe…

[Background--natural sound--drumming] Jose Antonio Morelos is the leader of a group of matachines, who dance and honor The Virgin in El Paso, Texas. He says he made a promise long ago that if he became a legal US resident, he'd dance to Guadalupe every single year. The Virgen also inspires musicians and poets like Juan Contreras.

[Background--natural sound--drumming] Yes, and we dance, and we dance a dance of universal love, of beauty, of honor, of forgiveness, of being. To you, Madrecita Querida (singing). If only for an eternity. Thank you. [Background--natural sound--applause]

A North American Free Trade Agreement has been signed by Canada, the US, and Mexico. Once it becomes law, we will be in the process of becoming the largest artificial economic community of the planet.

Negotiations between the US, Canada, and Mexico continue regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement. If the three parties should come to an agreement regarding environmental protection and labor issues, and if the US Congress approves NAFTA, free trade will be the economic order on the continent. But there are many opposing views on the impact NAFTA will have, should it become law. For performance artist and Latino USA commentator Guillermo Gomez Peña, many questions regarding the free trade agreement remain.

In terms of geography and demographics, it will be much larger than the European community or than the fashionable Pacific Rim. From the myriad possibilities of free trade agreements that could be designed and implemented, the neoliberal version we have is not exactly an enlightened one. It is based on the fallacy that the market will take care of everything. Avoiding the most basic social labor, environmental, and cultural responsibilities, there are many burning questions that remain unanswered. Given the endemic lack of political and economic symmetry between the three countries, will Mexico become, as Mexican artist Yareli Arizmendi says, the largest Indian reservation of the US? Or will it be treated as an equal by its bigger partners?

Will the predatory Statue of Liberty depower the Virgin of Guadalupe, or are they merely going to dance a sweaty cumbia? Will Mexico become a toxic and cultural waste dump of the US and Canada? Who will monitor the behavior of the three governments? Given the exponential increase of American trash and media culture in Mexico, what will happen to our indigenous traditions, social and cultural rituals, language, and national psyche? Will the future generations become hyphenated Mexican-Americans, brown-skinned gringos and Canochis or upside-down Chicanos? And what about our northern partners? Will they slowly become Chicanadians, Waspacks and Anglomalans?

Whatever the answers are, NAFTA will profoundly affect our lives in many ways. Whether we like it or not, a new era has begun and the new economic and cultural topography has been designed for us. We must find our new place and role within this new federation of US Republics.