River Ganges - Totally Thames

RIO PAPALOAPAN
River of Life Source to Mouth
The Papaloapan river flows
down to the east from the
volcanic highlands of the
Mexican plateau, originating from
cold water springs on the border
between the states of Veracruz
and Oaxaca in south-eastern
Mexico.
The name Papaloapan has its
origins in the náhuatl language.
Papalotl means "butterfly” and
apan means “place of” and this
explains why the Papaloapan is
also known as Rio de las
Mariposas (“river of the
butterflies”).
The Papaloapan is one of the
richest ecosystems in the world.
It is born from the union of two
rivers, the Tehuacan and the
Quiotepec, and its course takes it
76 miles (122 km) in a northeasterly direction. At first a rapid
mountain stream, further
downstream the river becomes
wider and flows peacefully
across a landscape
characterized by tropical lowland
vegetation, eventually emptying
via mangrove swamps and
beautiful salt lagoons into the
Gulf of Mexico at the city of Alvarado.
The towns Otatitlan, Tlacojalpan, Tuxtilla, Cosamaloapan, Carlos A Carrillo,
Amititlan, Tlacotalpan and Alvarado are situated on the banks of the Papaloapan.
The river and its tributaries drain an area of some 47,300 sq km – about twice the
size of the Netherlands. Two large dams, the Miguel Aleman and the Cerro de
Oro, were built to provide hydroelectric energy for the surrounding area and to
control the sometimes severe flooding of the lower basin. The dams have formed
a very large joint lake which is quite scenic and the northwestern shore and
islands have been declared a nature reserve called the Parque Natural Laguna de
Temascal.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
River of Life Conquistadors
Christopher
Colombus, the
Genoese
explorer, set sail
aboard the
Santa Maria
from Spain on
Friday 3 August
1492. He sighted
the islands of
Bahamas on 11
October and the
first meeting
between
Americans and
Europeans took
place the
following day.
Colombus
discovered Cuba
on 5 December
and Haiti soon
after. He
returned back to
the port of
Lisbon on 4 March 1493. The story of his trip caused a sensation. Within the
month, the Pope issued a decree recognizing Spain’s rights over the new
territories and desired that the natives be converted to Christianity.
Further expeditions followed. In 1504, the Spaniards landed on Panama and by
1511 had trekked through the jungles to discover the Pacific Ocean.
In 1513 King Ferdinand of Spain issued the “Requerimento” (the requirement).
Before attacking any group of natives, a document had to be read aloud requiring
the natives to embrace Christianity and to acknowledge the authority of the
Spanish king. If they refused or gave no response then any attack against them
was legitimized.
In 1513 an expedition embarked looking for a fabled ‘fountain of youth’. Rather
than the elixir of life, they returned with stories of a kingdom with unimaginable
quantities of gold. A 1517 expedition manned by soldiers of fortune bound to the
glory of God and their own profit set off for the Yucatan. They met with fierce
resistance and had to return.
The next expedition in 1518, led by Juan de Grijalva, made a brief foray into the
mouth of the Papaloapan before their final stopping point near present day
Veracruz. Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the areas around Veracruz were
populated by many different peoples: Huastecan, Totenac and Tepehua Indians in
the north; Nohoatl in the central and southern areas; and Olmecs, Tepehua and
Zapotecs in the south. The Nohoatl Indians, who identified the Papaloapan with
their mystical earthyl paradise of Tlalocan, actually welcomed the Spaniards and
Grijalva took possession of the country in name on behalf of the Spanish crown.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
River of Life Quetzalcoatl
In 1519, Hernan Cortes, a rich and powerful man in
Cuba, then aged 33, set sail south to seek the fabled gold
of the Aztec people and to carve his name in history. He
had eleven ships manned by 580 Spaniards, 200
Cubans, assorted African slaves, cannon, muskets,
crossbows and sixteen horses. Actually, exploration and
discovery, the conversion of natives to the Christian faith
and their acceptance of Spanish sovereignty were the
stated aims of the voyage.
According to Aztec legend, the god Quetzalcoatl (“the
Feathered Serpent” pictured left) had departed the shores
of Mexico from a town close to the mouth of the
Papaloapan and had promised to return during a Ce Acatl
(“One Reed”) year, which occurs every 52 years. By
extraordinary coincidence, 1519 was a One Reed year in
the Aztec calendar. Remarkably too, Quetzalcoatl was
reputed to have departed from Mexico on the same
coastline (just west of the Papaloapan) on which Cortes
chose to land.
In their first skirmishes, the Conquistadors were
outnumbered by more than 300 to 1, but their artillery and armoured horsemen
prevailed. As part of their settlement with the locals, Cortes was gifted twenty local
women and one of these, named Dona Maria by the Spaniards, quickly learned
Spanish. As their interpreter, she was to have a powerful influence on the
conquest. She is pictured above left standing behind Cortes.
When Cortes landed at Cempoala, north of present day Veracruz, the Aztec
emperor Moctezuma sent men to greet him together with the regalia of
Quetzalcoatl. The message was, “these are the gifts with which Moctezuma
welcomes you home to Mexico”.
It took just two years for Cortes and his men to ravage the city of Mexico and
plunder its riches. By 1521, Moctezuma together with 80% of the Aztecs living in
the city of Mexico had been slaughtered by the conquistadors.
In 1524, Cortes invited a group of Franciscan missionaries to follow the military
conquest with a religious one. But when the missionaries demanded that the
Mexicans abandon their religion, the priests of Quetzalcoatl decided to confront
them in a remarkable debate. Even more remarkable, their dialogue was written
down in Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs) and sent to Rome, where it lay in
the Vatican’s Secret Archive for 400 years. Forgotten until 1924, it is an
extraordinary record of one civilization defending its view of the world against
another.
Initially there was no compromise and in 1525, the Franciscans drove the Mexican
priests from their temples and began “the battle against the devil”. So thorough
was their desire to eliminate the indigenous culture that they ordered the native
population to learn Spanish. Faced with an impossible task, the missionaries
changed tactics and they themselves learned the local languages, translated the
bible and integrated Catholic iconography into the indigenous religions. Today,
70% of Mexicans are Catholic but in rural communities the old gods are still in
evidence. And, out of a population of 110 million, a million still speak Nahuatl.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
Polluted River Situation Critical
Between 70 and 75% of the
pollution in the river is manmade. Rubbish thrown into it
like plastic bags, cans, bottles
and organic waste seriously
damages the river as does
industrial waste and untreated
produce dumped into it by
slaughterhouses and other
factories. As a consequence,
the river’s ecosystem has been
seriously damaged, perhaps
even beyond its natural
capacity to restore itself.
Some inhabitants remember
the time when it was possible
to drink the waters of the
Papaloapan freely and when
fish were abundant. These
days however, there are some
stretches of the river that are
considerably polluted, where
the water smells foul and
where many fish and birds
have disappeared and where
the water is even unsuitable to irrigate adjacent
land. Some springs and streams have become
clogged by rubbish and have become unfit for
human consumption. Experts acknowledge that
the river is in a serious and critical situation which
affects the entire ecosystem of the area.
The use of chemical pesticides on land adjacent
to the river is also a problem. The area around the
lower reaches of the Papaloapan is intensively
cultivated with sugar cane, mangoes, banana and
other vegetables, and contaminated waters run
off into the river.
Unfortunately, industries on the Papaloapan have
shown no interest in applying strategies to reduce
and control river pollution. For instance, there are
run-off pipes into the Papaloapan from the sugar
mills of San Cristobal just outside Cosamaloapan
that stain the river red and makes it smell foul. The most visible crop in the
Papaloapan area from Otaitlan near the source to Cosamaloapan is undoubtedly
sugar cane. Over 15 million tons of it are grown a year.
Water pollution is blamed as the main cause of intestinal problems, skin diseases
and mosquito proliferation. Further upstream, the Modelo beer brewery in Tuxtilla
is also contaminating the river.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
Resourceful River Flooding & Dams
The Papaloapan is a
huge river that has been
fairly tranquil since the
building of the Aleman
Dam. It has, in the past,
habitually overflowed its
banks causing deadly
flooding, and the annual
festival of “El Paseo de la
Virgen de la Candelaria”
is a supplication for
protection against this
event. The Papaloapan
area has one of the
highest annual rainfalls in
Mexico and associated
run-off and, in recent
years, there have been
serious floods in 1944
and 1969.
Both to protect against
flooding and, more
importantly, to generate
electricity, plans were
drawn up in 1948 for five
hydroelectric dams in the upper reaches of the Papaloapan. Of those, just two
have been built, and in the process they have created the largest artificial lake in
Mexico (pictured left).
The first, the Presidente Miguel Alemán Dam (or Temascal Dam, the name of its
location) was started in 1957. It flooded the original town of San Miguel
Soyaltepec and forced the relocation of about 22,000 Mazatecs. The dam does
protect the lower Papaloapan of devastating floods, and generates 725 million
kilowatts of electrical power. The dam’s artificial lake lends itself to various water
sports such as fishing (catfish, mojarra and carp) as well as boat tours to the
islands of San Miguel Soyaltepec and Isabel María. The lakesides abound with
birds, small mammals and reptiles.
The second was started in 1972 and built in fits and starts over a 16 year period.
The long-delayed Cerro de Oro Dam provided multiple opportunities for
organisations opposed to the construction of the dam to mobilise sympathy,
create road blocks, encourage noisy demonstrations and deliver a continuous
barrage of press releases and media events.
More than 25,000 indigenous Chinantec people were moved twice because of the
dam. First, in 1975, to a resettlement site some 200 kilometres distant in virgin
rainforest. Their kin who remained behind were moved between 1986 and 1988 to
over 30 new villages spread over a wide area in south central Veracruz. The
Chinantec were victims of dam-induced ethnocide.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
Resourceful River Mazateca
The Mazatec Indians have lived in a relatively isolated area in northernmost
Oaxaca, wedged in between the states of Puebla and Veracruz, since well before
the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. In these rugged highland areas
the Mazatecans have developed a unique whistle language. With this, they can
carry on a conversation with whistle sounds only, like the yodeling of the Alpine
shepherds, and communicate from one peak to another using a vocabulary of
sounds.
The Mazatec conserve many of their traditional values and mythical beliefs. The
use of curanderos (healers) is a common practice and there are many sacred
places throughout the region.
In 1954 a gigantic development project was begun in the area, which brought
about momentous changes for the Mazatec. Hydroelectric dams were built, which,
besides helping to control the great cyclical floods of the Rio Papaloapan,
provided the basic infrastructure for the area's economic development. This
scheme focused on the lowlands and favored the development of cattle raising
and commercial agriculture for export. Large tracts of the jungle were cut down,
the monoculture of sugarcane was promoted, and private banks supported the
development of pasture for cattle. In the process, the territorial and cultural unity
of the Mazatec was severed: approximately 22,000 villagers who inhabited the
basin of the Miguel Aleman dam were moved and relocated to five areas in the
states of Oaxaca and Veracruz, some 250 kilometres away from their traditional
habitat. With the construction of the dam, the lowland Mazatec lost 500 square
kilometres, equivalent to 50% of their cultivable land.
In the highlands, on the other hand, where the emphasis was on coffee
production, the infrastructure and services were left relatively undeveloped.
Oaxaca has 53% of the whole indigenous population in Mexico and half of its
population lives close to the poverty line and a third of them still speak a native
language. When the Miguel Aleman dam was built in 1947 it created one of the
largest artificial lakes in the whole of Mexico. Native groups were forced to move
from the mainland to a new “island” and had to leave behind their long time
agricultural way of life to start fishing.
Everything changed as a result and a large percentage of the population left the
region. Nowadays the community is made up of three-hundred families from
Mazatecan background (an indigenous native group) who speak “mazateco”
among themselves, and only speak Spanish with outsiders.
Spanish conquistadores arriving in Mexico during the sixteenth century noted that
the native people used vision-inducing plants such as peyote, mushrooms,
morning glories, and others. When the New World came under the jurisdiction of
the flourishing Spanish Inquisition, the Indian utilization of hallucinogenic plants
was anathema to the clergy.
The identities of the mushrooms and morning glories were forgotten for centuries
until expeditions to remote areas of central Mexico during the 1930s found that
isolated peoples, including the Mazatecs, had continued to use hallucinogenic
plants in ritual healing, and these investigations were largely responsible for the
introduction of Mazatec psychotropic plants to the outside world.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
Working River State of Veracruz
From pre-Columbian times until the
nineteenth century, the Papaloapan
has been an important transport
artery and means of communication.
But recently, largely due to
deforestation and the effects of
climate change, the depth of water in
the river has reduced and it is now no
longer navigable.
Tlacotalpan originally became a
destination as the farthest up the river
that ships could navigate and
Tlacotalpan became the principal
town in the region, often more in
touch with Cuba and Europe than the
rest of Mexico.
The port was established early and in
competition with the port at nearby
Veracruz. Tlacotalpan’s location on
the banks of the Papaloapan meant
that steamships from Europe could
berth there when the Norte was
blowing, a cold northerly wind that
prevented them from docking at
Veracruz.
Important shipyards were moved from
Cuba as a direct result of the English
blockade of Havana in 1762. The port
developed rapidly, receiving
schooners and side-wheel
steamships that imported European
goods and exported tobacco, exotic
woods, cotton and sugar cane.
Ships from the port of Tlacotalpan
took products from the states of
Oaxaca and Puebla to Veracruz and
on to New Orleans, Havana and
Bordeaux. By 1855, its fleet had
grown to 18 steam ships and one
large sailing vessel used to transport
timber, tobacco, cotton, sugar, grain, brandy, leather, salt meat, crocodiles, heron
feathers, furniture and soap.
The State of Veracruz produces 76% of Mexico’s oil; it grows 64% of its
pineapples; over half its crop of oranges and 60% of its sugar cane. There are
huge sugar cane refineries on the Papaloapan by Cosamaloapan. Fishing is also
a highly significant industry – particularly shrimps. For years fish have been very
abundant and very diverse and the local population, many of whom are poor
villagers, have relied on the river as a source of plentiful food. However, global
warming and pollution are seriously threatening the local fish stock.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
Working River Chocolate
According to one legend, the Aztecs associated chocolate with Xochiquetzal, the
goddess of fertility. They ground the cocoa seeds into a paste that, when mixed
with water and seasoned with chilli pepper and other ingredients, made a frothy,
bitter, spicy drink called xocoatl.
Another Aztec legend tells of the god Quetzalcoatl bringing heavenly cocoa to
earth. Eventually, Quetzalcoatl was cast out of paradise for the blasphemous act
of giving this scared drink to humans. The gods felt that only they should be able
to drink chocolate. Priests often made offerings of cocoa seeds to Quetzalcoatl
and other deities.
The cocoa tree will not grow in the dry highlands of central Mexico, the seat of the
Aztec empire. So the Aztecs traded with the Maya and other peoples in order to
receive a steady supply of seeds for chocolate. Because cocoa was so valuable,
conquered people in cocoa-growing areas paid a tax by supplying the Aztecs with
cocoa seeds.
Chocolate was an important luxury good throughout
pre-Colombian Mesoamerica, and cocoa beans were
often used as currency. Cocoa beans served as
money until the seventeenth century
Christopher Colombus brought some cocoa beans
back to show Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, but it
was the Spanish friars who introduced it to Europe
more broadly.
The first recorded shipment to Europe for commercial
purposes was in a shipment from Veracruz to Seville
in 1585. It was still served as a beverage, but the
Europeans added sugar and milk to counteract the
natural bitterness and removed the chilli pepper,
replacing it with another Mexican indigenous spice,
vanilla. Changes to taste meant that by the
seventeenth century it was a luxury item among the
European nobility.
It is believed that the Englishman Joseph Fry made
the first chocolate for eating in 1847, followed in 1849
by the Cadbury brothers.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
River City Otatitlán
Otatitlán, a town of some 5,000 inhabitants, is mainly known for its
annual festival: the Day of the Holy Cross. Held from 29 April to 3 May,
thousands of indigenous Indians descend on the town to pay their
respects and perform traditional dances to El Señor de Otatitlán.
Otatitlán has always been little more than a minor river setlement.
However, from pre-Hispanic times, locals worshipped Yiacatecuhtli, a
commerce deity who was also traditionally depicted with black skin.
When the Spanish Conquistadors arrived, they forced the locals to
worship the image of St Andrew in his place.
But local stories tell of a blackened image, representing the figure of
Christ crucified, washed up on a raft, along the town's riverport dock a
few years later, in 1597. It was embraced by the converts to Roman
Catholicism as a replacement for local god Yiacatecuhtli. It was
interpreted as a divine sign that the area had been blessed and locals
began construction of a huge church and the town became a
pilgrimage site.
In 1931, during a period of unrest between government and Catholic
rebels, the image was stolen and taken to the nearby village of San
Antonio. There, anti-clerical forces under orders from Veracruz
Governor Adalberto Tejada, tried to set fire to it, but it refused to catch
and the desecrators had to be satisfied with decapitating it. After
recuperating their profaned icon, the townsfolk carved a new head for
it. Miraculously, in 1950, the original head was recovered and put back
in place; the replacement was also put in a display case in a place of
honour in the sanctuary.
The most important
festivities take place
on May 3, the Day of
the Holy Cross. During
these celebrations,
thousands of pilgrims
arrive eager to witness
the venerated image of
the black Christ.
Before entering the
church, pilgrims
purchase bundles of
basil, myrtle and
rosemary which local
healers use to cleanse
the devotees after
which they enter the
church to take part in a
remarkable act of
worship with unbroken
roots back into preHispanic culture.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
River City Tlacotalpan
Known as “the pearl of the Papaloapan”,
Tlacotalpan is one of Mexico’s most
beautiful towns. Pronounced "Tah-lackoh-tahl-pan", the name is of Nahuatl
origin and means “the place in the middle
of the earth”. The town is located on the
left bank of the Papaloapan River,
opposite the point at which the San Juan
Michapan rivers the river.
In pre-Hispanic times, Tlacotalpan was
the site of a major indigenous settlement.
The first contact with the conquistadors
was in 1521 when Cortes sent an
expedition up the Papaloapan in search
of gold and, soon after, the Spaniards
began to settle here. Most of the town
was established during the second half of
the eighteenth century when cotton and
sugar plantations were developed. But it
wasn’t until the early nineteeth century that Tlacotalpan experienced an economic
boom. It grew as a river port with access to the Gulf of Mexico via the
Papaloapan.
Tlacotalpan experienced a boom during the second half of the nineteenth century.
At this time, the town became important because sea-going vessels could
navigate up the Papaloapan to reach the port at Tlacotalpan. The town was
visited by three-masted sailing ships and schooners with the foreign crews as well
as the legendary two-floor steam ships equipped with side-wheels that docked
there to embark passengers, exotic timber, tobacco and large amounts of cotton
and other tropical produce.
After a series of disastrous fires, Tlacotalpan was rebuilt and its distinctive
architectural style comes from rules imposed by the town planners at that time.
Tlacotalpan is exceptional for the layout of the town, with tree-lined, wide streets
and colourful and highly ornamented houses built in the Caribbean style rather
than in Spanish colonial. The one and two story neoclassic buildings are painted
intense shades – emerald and lime green, pale pink, rosa mexicana, lavender,
purple, violet, blue, turquoise, yellow and melon.
During the golden years, Tlacotalpan built a theatre with chandeliers and marble
flooring, a customs house, a tram service and invested in street lighting. Mexico’s
first naval academy was built here. However, the construction of the Isthmus
Railway took business from the Papaloapan and Tlacotalpan became isolated. A
drop in cotton production accelerated the town’s decline. Paradoxically, the same
isolation that caused its decline has helped preserve this picturesque town.
There has been a chapel dedicated to La Virgen de la Candelaria in Tlacotalpan
since 1550, when the Spaniards were attempting to eliminate the indigenous
religions. Tlacotalpan is now famous for the festival for its patron saint. The most
famous image of the fiesta is a statue of the Virgin Mary drifting down the river,
followed by a flotilla of little boats. The procession of the idol and accompanying
parade of boats originated as a means to induce the Virgin to protect the
community against the annual floods.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
River City Alvarado
Alvarado is strategically located at
the mouth of the Papaloapan. The
town is sheltered from the sea by a
stretch of sand dunes which form a
huge lagoon. Since the earliest
settlement, when it was known as
Atlizintla (‘the place between
abundant waters’), Alvarado has
been a port and a centre for fishing.
The settlement was named San
Cristobel de Alvarado in 1600 after
Hernan Cortes’ notoriously violent
and volatile fellow conquistador
Pedro de Alvarado. Today, the town
has a military naval academy and a
technology institute for marine
studies. The most significant
industry in Alvarado is fishing, with
shrimp and the local fish Tilapia
particularly abundant.
Some of the first Spaniards settled
on these lower reaches of the
Papaloapan. Amongst the many
crops they experimented with was
sugar cane, which grew
exceptionally well in this climate.
Plantations soon followed and the
early settlers were followed by a
steady flow of black slaves who
were sent to work the sugar
plantations. Inter-marriage between
Africans, Spaniards and indigenous
groups led to a large mixed-race
population and, by the eighteenth
century, a distinctive local culture,
called Jarocho, had emerged.
Indeed, the local music, called Son
Jarocho, is a fusion of African,
European and Mesoamerican
rhythms.
Son Jarocho, played traditionally on
harp and guitars, is undergoing a
popular revival and every year the
town of Tlacotalpan hosts a great
encounter of these musicians.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
River Culture La Candelaria
From 31 January until 2 February Tlacotalpan explodes into a religious and
secular frenzy, its streets stuffed with true believers and joyful revelers. In the
whirl of activity there are three events that stand out: el Encuentro de Jareneros,
el Corrido de Torros, and el Paseo de la Virgin.
The afternoon of January 31 kicks off with a parade of equestrians, dressed in the
traditional costume of the Jarochos. The men dress in white with a red bandana
and the typical hat with indentations. The women wear flowing white dresses,
black aprons, shawls with ribbons and flowers in their hair. During the next three
days there will be other parades including the “Mojiganga” (a procession of giant
figures). There will be regattas on the river, bailes, masses, various presentations
in the town squares and lots of drinking of Toritos de Cacahuates (a highly
alcoholic drink made from peanuts).
Starting on the night of January 31st in la Plaza de Doña Marta, jareneros
(musicians who play the traditional music from southern Veracruz, called Son
Jarocho) gather for the largest Encuentro and Fandango of the year. Along with
the musicians, the Decimistas come to present their work. Decimas are poems of
ten-line stanzas that are dramatically spoken with the accompaniment of Son
Jarocho music. Decimas often proclaim the greatness of Veracruz and the beauty
of its women, but the majority are picaresque comments on everyday life. At about
11pm a Fandango (dance done to Son Jarocho) starts up. Here one can watch
the most talented dancers from the region until
10 am the next morning. The Encuentro and
Fandangos span all three nights.
El Corrido de Torros is a Running of the Bulls.
The bulls are free to run more or less where they
will, controlled only by cowboys. As a result, they
are likely to run down any street, jump up on the
pavements and have even been known to enter
houses. Every year, some people are seriously
hurt and sometimes killed. The bulls too are
seriously injured and they are always killed at the
end of the festivities. In 2006 due to an
international campaign and meetings with
Mexican animal rights activists, the governor of
the state of Veracruz banned the use of the bulls
but the mayor of Tlacoltalpan overruled his
decision and the fiesta went ahead as usual.
El Paseo de la Virgen de la Candelaria is a supplication for protection against
nd
flooding. On February 2 , a mass is held starting at dawn. At around 6am a
mariachi and the jaraneros (who have been playing at the Fandango all night)
enter the church for the playing of the traditional Mexican birthday song and The
Crying Woman. A little later the Virgen is carried in procession through the centre
of town and down to the walkway beside the river where a barge awaits her. Many
people rent boats from local fishermen, even bringing musicians along to
serenade the Virgen on her voyage up and down the river. Those who do not
manage to acquire a boat, line the shore to watch the procession.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
River Culture Voladores
The dance of the Voladores (“the
flyers”) has remained almost
unchanged since pre-Hispanic
times.
Dressed in fanlike headdresses
with red and blue tunics, the five
participants in this daring event
climb up a 15m high pole. Perched
at the very top of the pole, the chief
faces east and invokes the gods,
opening his arms and using a
whistle to imitate an eagle.
Poignantly (and to his considerable
personal danger) he stands on the
top and dances to each of the four
cardinal points. East first, where the
sun rises, then south, west and
finally north.
The ‘flight’ then begins. Four
voladores are attached by coiled
ropes to the platfform at the top of
the pole. They allow themselves to
fall backwards and slowly descend
to the ground, forming a great spiral
as their ropes gradually unwind.
The most difficult task facing the
voladores is to grasp the rope
between their toes, so they hang
upside down with their arms open,
like gliding birds that trace great
circles in the sky.
Much significance is read into the
iconography of the dance. For
instance, the descent of each of the
four voladores should be
accomplished in thirteen turns; 4 x
13 = 52, the number of years in the
pre-Hispanic century. In addition,
the voladores must purify
themselves before every flight by
abstaining from alcohol and sexual
intercourse for seven days prior to
a flight.
The dance was originally made to
the god of agriculture Xipe-Totec to
appeal for sun and rain and to make a plentiful harvest. These days, the
voladores make an appearance at most significant local festivals in the area
between the River Tuxpan in the north and the Papaloapan in the south. Many
towns, including Tlacotalpan, have installed permanent poles for the voladores in
the heart of their communities.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org
RIO PAPALOAPAN
River Culture Day of the Dead
Celebrations vary from region to region, as does the
timing of the events. But in most places, the
souls of dead children (“Angelitos”) arrive at
midday on 31st October and depart on 1st
November, their place is then taken by the
souls of dead adults. They in turn depart
at midday on 2nd November (“El Dia de las
Muertos”).
Mexicans believe that a person dies three
deaths. The first is when the body ceases
to function; the second is when the body
is interred or returned to mother earth and
the third and most definitive death is when
there is no-one left alive to remember the
life of the departed.
Everywhere the dead are welcomed with
ceremony and respect. House altars are
adorned with flowers, leaves and fruit;
sometimes a path of flower petals from
street to altar guides the returning souls.
Elegant candlesticks and incense burners
are set out with offerings of food and
drink. Care is taken to ensure that the aroma is strong, for it
is the fragrance that leads the spirit home.
nd
On the morning of the 2 November, families gather in the graveyard with more
offerings. Some bring picnic baskets, bottles of tequila for toasting the departed or
even a mariachi band to serenade the dead with songs and music. Often there
are stalls outside cemetery gates selling food and drinks and the noise of
firecrackers fills the air.
From mid-October, markets and shops all over Mexico start to sell the
paraphanalia for the Day of the Dead. There are skeletons (“calaveras”) and all
sorts of macabre toys; intricate tissue paper-cuts (“papel picado”); elaborate
wreaths and crosses; candles and votive lights; fresh seasonal flowers,
particularly marigolds and cockscomb. There are loads of edible goodies too like
sugar skulls, chocolate coffins and specially baked and shaped breads
The origins of the Day of the Dead date back thousands of years to rituals
celebrating the death of ancestors and, more recently, to Aztec times and a
festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl (“The Lady of the Dead”).
The 1st and 2nd November are also All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day, respectively,
whose roots go back to Celtic times. With its mix of pre-Hispanic and Roman
Catholic rituals the Day of the Dead is a perfect illustration of the synthesis that
has been achieved between ancient and modern beliefs.
Jose Posada’s striking image of a costumed woman with a skeleton face that he
called “Catarina” as a parody of a Mexican upper classes, and now also Catarina
figures, often feature prominently in the Day of the Dead.
Rio Papaloapan was compiled by Adrian Evans in 2008
Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival project delivered in partnership with the British Council’s
Connecting Classrooms with support from HSBC Global Education Programme
www.riversoftheworld.org