Oaxaca Gives Afro-Mexican Traditions Their Own Festival

Twelve delegations brought music, masked dancers and coastal traditions to Chacahua Isla on Monday for Oaxaca’s first Afro Guelaguetza, a festival dedicated to Afro-Mexican heritage. It gave those traditions their own event in a state where Afro-Mexican communities also participate in the broader July Guelaguetza.

The festival, called La Rejunjuneada, loosely meaning “the get-together,” took place in Chacahua Isla, a community on Oaxaca’s Pacific coast with a predominantly Afro-descendant population. Chacahua Isla sits in the Costa Chica, a coastal region spanning Oaxaca and Guerrero and a historic heartland of Afro-Mexican culture.

A dedicated celebration

The event marked Oaxaca’s Afro-Mexican People’s Day, established in 2013 and observed on Oct. 19. A procession wound along the lagoon and through local streets before performers took the stage beside Chacahua Lagoon.

The host delegation opened with the Fandango de Varitas. Another community performed the Turtle Dance, while two delegations offered their interpretations of the Dance of the Devils, described as a highly representative expression of Afro-Mexican culture. Dancers in horned masks stomped and leapt to the music.

Afro-Mexican communities also take part in Oaxaca’s better-known July Guelaguetza, which features traditions from across the state. Collantes, an Afro-Mexican town on Oaxaca’s coast, sent its Dance of the Devils delegation to that festival. La Rejunjuneada gave Afro-Mexican traditions a dedicated festival rather than limiting their place to the broader statewide celebration.

Recognition, rights and representation

Oaxaca Gov. Salomón Jara Cruz said recognition of communities’ histories must translate into rights, justice and opportunities. Villa de Tututepec Mayor Eder Muñoz Peña described the municipality’s Chatino, Mixtec and Afro-Mexican roots, saying the celebration represented historical justice as well as cultural pride.

Enid Azucena Torres Agustiniano joined the event. This summer, she became the first Afro-Mexican woman chosen as Goddess Centéotl, the main Guelaguetza’s cultural ambassador.

The 2020 census figures cited by Conapred, the federal anti-discrimination agency, show that 8.6% of Guerrero residents and 4.7% of Oaxaca residents identified as Afro-Mexican or Afro-descendant. Across the country, the figure was 2%.

The festival took place in two coastal states where a larger share of residents identified as Afro-Mexican or Afro-descendant than in Mexico as a whole. Delegations from the region gathered for dances, music and traditions associated with Afro-Mexican communities. The program included a procession and performances beside Chacahua Lagoon.

Its program featured named dance traditions. The Fandango de Varitas opened the performances. The Turtle Dance and two versions of the Dance of the Devils followed.

The first Afro Guelaguetza centered on cultural recognition, while the governor’s remarks also called for rights, justice and opportunities. Its distinct place alongside the July Guelaguetza marked a dedicated celebration for Afro-Mexican traditions in Oaxaca.