Guelaguetza
The Guelaguetza festival is held in the capital of Oaxaca on the "Mondays of the Hill" in July.
This celebration brings together the different ethnic groups and mestizo cultures of the regions of Oaxaca to share their dances, traditions, and gastronomy with locals and visitors. Learn about them!
Ikoots – San Mateo del Mar (2023) by Secretaría de las Culturas y Artes de OaxacaSecretaría de las Culturas y Artes de Oaxaca
Ikoots (San Mateo del Mar)
The Ikoots, "those who have the word," are a community surrounded by the sea.
It is believed that they arrived at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec after the shipwreck of a boat from Peru.
Ikoots – San Mateo del Mar (2023) by Secretaría de las Culturas y Artes de OaxacaSecretaría de las Culturas y Artes de Oaxaca
They are a people who do not let themselves be defeated and keep their customs and traditions deeply rooted.
Their livelihood is fishing: they have great respect for the sea and instill this value from childhood, so they ask for permission to enter its waters.
Ikoots – San Mateo del Mar (2023) by Secretaría de las Culturas y Artes de OaxacaSecretaría de las Culturas y Artes de Oaxaca
Women wear a red wrap-around skirt.
Ikoots – San Mateo del Mar (2023) by Secretaría de las Culturas y Artes de OaxacaSecretaría de las Culturas y Artes de Oaxaca
The men wear a white suit with drawings of shrimp and crabs.
Ikoots – San Mateo del Mar (2023) by Secretaría de las Culturas y Artes de OaxacaSecretaría de las Culturas y Artes de Oaxaca
The dance is ancient and is accompanied by the sound of the drum.
It narrates the struggle of a warrior, whose nahual is the "lightning," able to predict when the nahual of the "snake" will come out of the hill on which it dwells and head to the ocean to flood the town.
The dance is the struggle to avoid it.
Ikoots – San Mateo del Mar (2023) by Secretaría de las Culturas y Artes de OaxacaSecretaría de las Culturas y Artes de Oaxaca
They are an ethnic group proud of their roots, of the sea that saw them born and that helps them to consolidate themselves as a people who have the word.
