3148 MEXICO (Yucatán) - The Ribbon Dance in Chichen Itza

3148 The Ribbon Dance in Chichen Itza,
during the celebration of the March equinox

The Ribbon Dance (El Baile de las Cintas) is portrayed in every website, guidebook, or history book about Yucatán; the image of men and women in colorful dress, dancing in a circle around a pole, each participant holding on to a brightly colored ribbon, is iconic. The dance has its roots in Bavaria, where in the 14th century was named Maiphahl (maypole). Danced also in England and the Low Countries, it reached Spain during the reign of Charles V, as the Danza del Cordón (Rope Dance).

1491, 2581 MEXICO - Maya people

2581 Maya peoples

Posted on15.03.2015, 28.05.2016
The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the native peoples in southern Mexico and northern Central America that share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage. In other words, the term embraces many distinct ethnic groups that each have their own particular traditions, cultures, and historical identity. The pre-Columbian Maya population was approximately eight million, and despite the centuries of massacres, slavery and diseases, in nowadays there are an estimated seven million living in this area.

1491 A Mayan little girl

The largest populations of contemporary Maya inhabit Guatemala, Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador, as well as large segments of population within the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Chiapas. One of the largest group of modern Maya can be found in Mexico's Yucatán state and the neighboring states of Campeche and Quintana Roo. They commonly identify themselves simply as "Maya" with no further ethnic subdivision, and speak the language which anthropologists term "Yucatec Maya".

2559 MEXICO (Chiapas) - A Tzeltal woman to the market in Yochib

Chiapas is the southernmost state of Mexico, located at the border with Guatemala. Over its history, there have been three main indigenous groups: the Mixes-Zoques, the Mayas and the Chiapa. Today, there are an estimated fifty-six linguistic groups. As of the 2005 Census, there were 957,255 people who spoke an indigenous language out of a total population of about 3.5 million. Of this one million, one third don't speak Spanish.

1908, 1961 MEXICO (Oaxaca) - At the market in Oaxaca

1908 At the market in Oaxaca - Baskets seller eating watermelon

Posted on 20.09.2015, 15.10.2015
Located on the foothills of the Sierra Madre, Oaxaca relies heavily on tourism, not least for the native Zapotec and Mixtec cultures. The city is home to several large markets, the oldest being the Mercado (Market) Benito Juárez, built in 1893 and named after a former president. The Mercado 20 de Noviembre, known as the Mercado de la Comida (food), is recommended for regional dishes such as moles, tasajo, tlayudas, pan de yema, chapulines, quesillo, queso fresco, as well as very large cups of hot chocolate, often spiced with cinnamon and almonds.

1961 At the market in Oaxaca - Grilled meat corridor

Also called the handicrafts market, the Mercado de Artesañas it’s open daily and offers lots of household items, leather goods, native textiles, handicrafts, and ceramics. La Merced Market is also open daily and is a good place to find cheap mescal and tequila, as well as many other food items. On Saturday’s, Oaxaca City market, also known as Abastos Market becomes alive with crafts from the early morning to afternoon. The market is open everyday of the week, but the craft section is only around on Saturdays.

1878 MEXICO - The Tlacolula Market

Located at about 30 km from the center of the city of Oaxaca, Tlacolula de Matamoros is the main commercial center for the Tlacolula Valley area, and best known for its weekly open air market (or tianguis) held on Sundays. This market is one of the oldest, largest and busiest in Oaxaca, mostly selling foodstuffs and other necessities for the many rural people which come into town on this day to buy, sell and socialize. The name most likely comes from the Nahuatl phrase Tlacolullan, which means "place of abundance."

1672 MEXICO (Oaxaca) - Tehuanas

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec represents the shortest distance between the the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and prior to the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major shipping route known simply as the Tehuantepec Route. The name is taken from the town of Santo Domingo Tehuantepec; this was derived from the Nahuatl term tecuani-tepec ("jaguar hill"). The population of the region is composed almost wholly of indigenous Zapotec peoples. The women are the traders in Tehuantepec and do little menial work. Known as "Tehuanas", these women are known throughout Mexico for their colorful dresses, assertive personalities, and relatively equal relations with men, leading some to characterize them as "matriarchal". The underskirt is lace while the skirt and bodice are embroidered black velvet. Coins form part of their sumptuous gold jewelry.  

1596 MEXICO (Veracruz) - Ritual ceremony of the Voladores (UNESCO ICH)

Founded in the 13th century by the Totonacs, in the Sierra Papanteca range and on the Gulf of Mexico, Papantla is the heart of the Totonacapan region and still has strong communities of Totonacs who maintain the culture and language. This is the home of vanilla, which is native to this region, the El Tajín archeological site, and the Danza de los Voladores (Dance of the Flyers). Named also Palo Volador (Pole Flying), the Danza de los Voladores is an ancient Mesoamerican ceremony / ritual still performed today, albeit in modified form, in isolated pockets in Mexico. It is believed to have originated with the Nahua, Huastec and Otomi peoples in central Mexico, and then spread throughout most of Mesoamerica.

1384 MEXICO (Michoacán) - Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead (UNESCO ICH)

1384 Dance of The Old Men in Janitzio

The town of Janitzio (which means "where it rains") is located atop the hill of the Isla de Janitzio, the main island of Lake Pátzcuaro (on the background of the postcard), whereof the natives believe that is the place where the barrier between life and death is the thinnest. On the island's highest point can be seen a 40m statue of José María Morelos, a great hero of Mexico's independence. The Lake Pátzcuaro basin is home to the Purépecha (Tarascan) people, who in pre-colonial times occupied most of the state of Michoacán, but also some of the lower valleys of Guanajuato and Jalisco. The Tarascan state was never conquered by the Aztec Empire, despite several attempts to do so, probably due to the Purépecha knowledge of metal working, which was superior to that of the Aztecs.

0669 MEXICO (Chiapas) - Parachicos in the traditional January feast of Chiapa de Corzo (UNESCO ICH)

Located in the Grijalva River valley of the Chiapas highlands, Chiapa de Corzo is a small city, important of the archaeological point of view, because here were found the earliest inscribed date, the earliest form of hieroglyphic writing and the earliest Mesoamerican tomb burial. It's also the first Spanish city founded in Chiapas (1528), but after a while, because of the climate, many of the Spaniards moved into what is now San Cristóbal de las Casas. Chiapa was left for indigenous and Dominicans and called Chiapa de los Indios, San Cristobal being known as Chiapa de los Españoles.