la cana esta floreciendo

wow, there is so much to write about in the past few days, but i have to break it down. So first I will write about Amatlan, an indigenous village in the nountains about an hour from Cuernavaca.

the first thing to know about Amatlan is that it has always been in the hands of the Nauha people. during the conquest, their community saved money and bought the land from the Spanish. it has always been their communal land to farm and live on. their land is very important to them, and for this reason Amatlan is a strong organizing community and have resisted attempts by the government and businesses to buy and develop their land.

We talked with a man named Nacho, who is the partner of one of the staff in the program and who also is on the Community Land Council of Amatlan, and has recieved death threats for organizing to save and retain their communal land. Nacho is so amazing, I have a hard time articulating everything, but of course I will try :).

He first talked to us about indigenous history and culture. So much of the pre-Colubmbian history and the histroy of the Conquest informs his outlook on life and organizing. Nahua people grow mainly corn and have a storng connection to the land. From the land comes corn, and so comes life. The land is also shared by everyone and so this is why attempts to privitize land goes against their whole tradition and culture. And it made me think, this is why a job in the city is not always better.. even if they are poor farmers, they have their culture, their community, and their historical roots. how can you put a price on that?

Nacho told us Mexican history from pre-Columbian Mesoamerica to current times, and when he talked about the Mexican revolution and Zapata, he would say "nuestro general, Don Emiliano Zapata." the word nuestro ("ours") struck me is two different words. One is that I realized that Amatlan is a town probably very much like the one that Zapata come from, and as an indigenous farmer, people like Nacho are exactly who Zapata was fighting for in 1910 and they very much recognize that and claim him as their leader. The other thing is that by saying "out general," Nacho was not talking in the past, but speaking as if Zapata is still here in the present, which he very much is if people like Nacho are organizing to keep their communal land. As both Nacho and Zapata said, "La tierra es de quien lo trabaja con sus manos" or "The land belongs to those who work it with their hands."

We then hiked to the base of the mountain and participated in a traditional Nahua ceremony. I can't describe all of it, but it was about giving and recieving energy from the North, South, East, and West, the sky, and the earth. The four directions are very important to Nahua religion and one of their sacred symbols is an equal cross, like a plus sign. And it is all very much connected... the four directions represent 4 colors:
East: white (for the new sun)
West: yellow (for the setting sun)
South: red (for women and birth)
North: black (for death)

And each of these 4 colors are a color of corn.

Nacho talked more about this religion, how it was very much connected with everything that he does. The whole cermeony was very moving and a few tears escaped my eyes.

The ceremony was at a site with ancient symbols carved in the rock that dated to be about 15,000 years old (I hope I'm remebering that right). I would post the picture, but something else that I learned was that I should be careful about what I take pictures of and post on the internet. Taking a picture is like taking a part of something away for your benefit, and you have to think about what is the purpose of that picture. I did take a picture that I do really want to show you, but I can't figure out how to post that right now. It will come later.

The last bit about Nacho (for now, since I am sure I will talk to him again) is that as we drove back to Cuernavaca, he commented "la cana esta floreciendo" (sorry Spanish speakers, I can't figure out how to make accents online either) which means "the sugar cane is flowering." Apparantly there is a saying that when the sugar cane flowers, there is going to be an uprising. And the sugar can has just started to flower in the past six years. so keep posted people, Mexico fought for independence in 1810, fought a revolution in 1910, and 2010 is coming up.

thats all tonight, more to come on pyramids and Carnival!