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174  At present, religious fiestas and cultural practices such as dance and music continue to be as essential to the social life of the immigrant community in Los Angeles as they are to Yalaltecos in Yalálag. In both places, scores of Yalaltecos come together to honor the Yalálag patron saints. The fiestas create special occasions for family reunions, community reorganization, and the collective expression of religiosity. The performances of village dances and music at these community events express the Yalaltecos’ religious devotion. They symbolically connect immigrants and non-immigrants, and embody the extraordinary joy of life and the depth of human experience. The fact that Yalaltecos continue to express their views of the world through these cultural practices in patron saint celebrations in Los Angeles and Yalálag merits for various reasons.Yalaltecos are, above all, music and dance experts, and their dedication to these arts is fueled by the role of these events as socialization opportunities for youth and as a means of communication among people and with their deities. Yalaltecos not only dance as a way of promesa for the patron saints in both places, but also choreograph chusca dances in Los Angeles and in Yalálag to stage issues that are of great importance and concern for their community at present: their struggles to keep their collective memory alive, their need to express their views on the rapid and profound changes affecting their community , and the efforts of Yalaltec immigrants and non-immigrants to find ways to negotiate their increasing social differences. In this final chapter, I examine the significance of the Yalaltec dance of Los Huenches (the ancient Zapotecs) in both the redefinition of group identity and the negotiation of deep shifts in social and cultural life of the transnational Yalaltec community. c h a p t e r 7 COMMUNITY AND CULTURE IN TRANSNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE Community and Culture in Transnational Perspective 175 Los Huenches: On the Location and Translocation of Performance InYalálag,the dance of Los Huenches derives from historical and mythical accounts of the founding Yalálag village, village patron saint fiestas, and ancestral ceremonies dedicated to the Zapotec goddess of the corn. One of the myths of Yalálag’s founding says that, during Spanish colonization, the ancient Zapotecs fled to the highlands. During that time, they formed thirteen Zapotec settlements and founded the villages of Tiltepec and Yetzelálag. In his article, “Los Huenches: La danza sagrada del maíz,” Yalaltec historian and poet Mario Molina (2003) points out that,according to the oral tradition of Yalaltecos,these settlements evolved into the village of Yalálag. Although the first documented performances are from the end of the nineteen century, the villagers say this dance is pre-Hispanic. Contemporary performances of Los Huenches also have roots in religious festivals honoring the Yalálag patron saints of San Juan Bautista, on June 24, and Santa Rosa de Lima, on August 30, and in nearly obsolete ritual corn ceremonies . According to the Yalaltecos, they used to perform the corn ceremony in the highlands to revere Mother Earth during the fiestas of these two saints. These ceremonies consisted of offerings of food, candles, feathers, and flowers; the sacri fice of hens or turkeys; the recitation of rosaries; and the performance of the dance of Los Huenches. Currently, although these ceremonies have almost vanished, old Yalálag Zapotecs continue to believe that performing this dance is a sacred and magic act and an offering for the Mother Earth and the patron saints. In Yalálag, in the worldview of the Yalaltecos, dancing Los Huenches is conceived as a propitiatory act for rain. Also, performing this dance is a religious and symbolic act by which Yalaltecos ask the patron saints to protect the harvest from danger and thank Mother Earth from what Yalaltecos have taken from it. It is believed that dancing Los Huenches helps ensure a plentiful supply of corn, sugar cane, beans, squash, and chili crops. The dance ensemble of Los Huenches is composed of various characters: the huenches, the Yalaltec woman, Rosa Maria, and a deer huenche. The character of the huenche plays a central part in one of the founding myths of Yalálag and in the dance.Yalaltecos describe the huenches as“the founders of Yalálag.”The word huenche derives from wench gure, “the ancient Zapotecs.” As José, a renowned Yalaltec dancer from Los Angeles, said to me: “The village people have a lot of respect for...

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