Xochimiqueh

 

Xochimiqueh (flor de los Muertos or flor de los ancestros) is a Nahuatlaca tradition that is now reduced to a celebration that begins on the evening of October 31 and ends on November 2.  Our relationship with Mother Death (Mictlancihuatl) is more involved and complex. 

 

Every 20 days in the Tonal Maciotl (Aztec Calendar) there is one day (micailhuitl) dedicated to Miquiztli (Death). And every 260 days Death gets to carry a 13-day count as Ce-Miquiztli. Everyone of the days gets to do that every 260 days. 

 

There is also our Creation story in which Quetzalcoatl goes down into Mictlan and negotiates with Mictlantecutli and Mictlancihuatl to recover the bones of humanity so that we can be part of this present world. In the end it is the blood of his broken bones which restores us to Life.

 

Then there is the annual migration of the Monarch butterflies which ends in central Mexico at the end of October/beginning of November. These butterflies represent the return of the Spirits, but also the black Monarchs are announcement of death (similar to an owl’s presence).

 

Xochimiqueh, the flowers of the departed are called Zempoaxochitl (Cempoazuchil), zempoa meaning 20 or the number that describes a complete human being (10 finger + 10 toes = 20). It was by coincidence that the Catholic alteration of the Celtic days of the dead (today known as Halloween), All Saints, and All Souls day coincided with part of our Death tradition and our ancestors were able to preserve some of our Xochimiqueh ceremony. 

 

Carlos Aceves 

Barrios Unidos Park Science and Culture Project

 Barrios Unidos Park Science and Culture Project

Tonal Yohualpapalotl Chicyei Tekpatl Xihuitl
Sunrise Fall Equinox
September 22, 2020

Observation is the foundation of all science.
The science of observation, is the science of science.

For a Mexican Barrio that has all but vanished due to the expansion of Sky Harbor Airport and subsequent commercialization, the preservation of a sense of the past community history and culture is necessary in order to provide a true accounting of the present reality. This sense of history and culture, which is now being regenerated, is a necessary part of a community healing process that struggles for justice.

When the world around you is described and you are not in it, there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing. The collective consciousness of this community has now united to resist this void.

We support the reintroduction and the regeneration of our ancestral sacred knowledge in the form of the depiction of the Sun Stone at Barrios Unidos Park, as an instrument of science and culture well recognized for its mathematical and astronomical precision.  This project intends to serve as a definitive element of our comprehensive community planning into the future generations, with the goal of realizing equilibrium and peace within our community, with all  humanity, and with Mother Earth.

*************

Golden Gate Barrio * Las Cuatro Milpas * Barrio Ann Ott * Barrio Campito * Barrio Green Valley Park

Nuestros Barrios AZ: Is a group of dedicated individuals, agencies &   business partners focused on preserving the memory, experiences and stories of historic barrios in Arizona. 

Barrios Unidos Park

Community-Cultural Art Proposal

 

Introduction:

 

Nuestros Barrios is comprised of historic barrios located in Central City Phoenix, just west of Sky Harbor International Airport. Historically, the community has been impacted and displaced by the growth and development of the airport. Nuestros Barrios AZ is focused on the preservation of the memory, experiences, and stories of these historic barrios though various community development initiatives.

The creation of cultural public art will allow the community to reclaim, regenerate and “culturize” the area and provide an interactive educational experience and cultural awareness to the residents of Nuestros Barrios and for the entire community of Phoenix at large. 

 

 

Program Description:

a) TONATIERRA Community Development Institute working with artist AJ Larson, utilizing traditional, cultural and scientific methods of the “Mexikayotl” and focusing on the concrete platform amphitheater at Barrios Unidos Park, will capture and depict the careful and scientific observations of an Indigenous Peoples Sun Stone Calendar, in order to mark and serve as a permanent legacy of recognition and dignity for the Original Barrio of the ancestral 400 Milpas.  The project is embedded in an ongoing continental Indigenous Peoples cartography project of the Original Nations of Abya Yala.

 

The project at Barrios Unidos Park with launch with a ceremonial welcome of Yohualpapalotl at dawn of September 22, 2020 (Fall Equinox) on site.

 

The project will be implemented in exercise and in accord with the Cultural Competency Policy of the City of Phoenix in regard to public works, and in the context of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), specifically articles:

Article 11

Indigenous peoples have the right to practice and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artifacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and visual and performing arts and literature.

Article 13

Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons.

 

 

Through this Community Cultural Art initiative, TONATIERRA will provide the community(s) of Nuestros Barrios with the following services:

 

●  Indigenous Peoples Educational Services and Consulting

●  Community/Cultural Public Art Installation at Barrios Unidos Park

Antigua Residencia de los Aztecas
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo US-Mexico 1848

About the Artist: The artist AJ Larson has agreed to work with TONATIERRA and the community, free of charge to complete the public art display in Barrios Unidos Park in Phoenix, AZ.

Launch Date: September 22, 2020

Location: Barrios Unidos Park located at 16th Street and Mohave Phoenix, AZ 85034

 

YouTube:
Tonal Machiotl:
A Xinachtli Workshop with Carlos Aceves

September 5, 2020

UNDRIP: Human Rights of the Future Generations

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Eighth Session  May 20, 2009 UN Headquarters New York, NY

Agenda Item: 4 (a) Human Rights

Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Self Determination: It's not a question, it's a quest.

That in follow-up to the above and in anticipation of emerging themes for future work, the UNPFII establish partnership with the diverse initiatives of the Indigenous Peoples across the planet in terms of Education and Human Rights of the Indigenous Peoples, in accord with the principles of the UNDRIP, and in particular as related to the development of complementary systems and services of social cognition, compilation and dissemination of bioregional planning instruments, such as the Indigenous Peoples Geography Project.

Itilmaloyan Abya Yala

YouTube:

Barrio Cuatro Milpas Peace Treaty

Raíz de Aztlan