This Hillsboro festival celebrates an often overlooked piece of Mexican culture

Wearing heavy wooden masks with long curved horns and intricate designs resembling demons, witches and skeletons, dancers launched into a danza de los diablos (dance of the devils) in Shute Park on Saturday afternoon as onlookers gathered to watch.

The performance was a focal point of La Guelaguetza, an annual Indigenous cultural celebration in Hillsboro that honors the history and traditions of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Dozens of dancers in masks and chivarras (leather chaps made from goat skin) stomped their feet to live music, while holding whips above their heads. Many completed their costumes with boots and intricate suit jackets with fringe or sequined designs.

Although the masks are heavy and stifling, the dancers showed no exhaustion.

“It’s hard, but we’re used to it,” said Ricardo Sixto Gutiérrez, an Oaxacan mask-maker and dancer, in Spanish. “It’s tiring, but we always rest. And then we come back.”

The danza de los diablos traces its roots to a ritual once performed by enslaved Africans in honor of the deity Ruja, in a plea for liberation from Spanish rule. Over centuries, it absorbed Indigenous and Catholic influences, transforming into a symbolic battle between good and evil and a testament to endurance and survival.

Elements of the choreography draw from the movements of Mexican cattle ranchers, while the devil masks pay tribute to the artistry and storytelling traditions of African ancestors.

The dance originated in Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico with a rich cultural heritage that predates colonization. According to organizers, the Oaxaca region is one of the few where Indigenous languages are commonly spoken. The state officially recognizes over 150 linguistic variations.

Saturday’s festival at Shute Park featured a lineup of dance and music performances by Oaxacan groups from across Oregon, as well as a few from Washington and California. La Guelaguetza is distinct from a typical Mexican festival, said organizer Adán Merecias.

“I think what’s often missed is the work and also the contributions from the Indigenous communities,” Merecias said about other events which celebrate Mexican culture more broadly. “There’s a lot of Indigenous communities that existed in Mexico. And we just want to highlight the languages, cultures, food, even music, is very different.”

Gutiérrez, has been a part of the festival since its inception in 2019 through his Oregon-based dance group Santiago Naranjas.

“I formed a group because I wanted to share the culture of where we come from, where we are, who we are,” Gutiérrez said. “That’s why I’m still in this now, despite getting older.”

Gutiérrez continues to dance and craft masks for his four children, who were raised in Oregon, so they can experience their culture the way he did as a child in Oaxaca.

For the past eight years, Gutiérrez has crafted the wooden masks from cedar. Each design can take anywhere from one to three weeks to create, he said. Completed masks can cost between $500 and $2,000 depending on the design and length of the horns.

Danza de los diablos wasn’t the only Indigenous style performed at La Guelaguetza. Other Oaxacan dances filled the calendar from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. including flor de piña (pineapple flower dance), la danza de los rubios (the dance of the blondes) and other folk performances. The dances represented various communities from Oaxaca, including dancers from the Mixtec (Ñuu Savi), Zapotec, Afro-Mexican and valley communities.

Between performances, dancers handed out fruit and candy to the audience as a sign of gratitude for their presence. The practice is a tradition in Oaxaca.

“This goes back to the Zapotec community, which is a community in the state of Oaxaca,” Merecias said. “They used to celebrate this on a yearly basis to honor their goddess Centeotl, who’s the goddess of maize harvest.”

La Guelaguetza began as a festival honoring the goddess and seeking a plentiful harvest, but also functioned as a communal gathering to celebrate and exchange goods and traditions. Merecias and fellow organizers launched La Guelaguetza in Oregon in 2019, and the event has expanded in size and popularity each year since.

In Oaxaca, La Guelaguetza has increasingly become an event for those who can afford it, Merecias said. He aims to challenge that exclusivity by placing Indigenous community members at the center of the celebration in Oregon.

“The event is open to everybody,” Merecias said. “It’s a space to be able to learn and connect with the Oaxacan community, but the leadership is focused on the Oaxaqueña community, and I think that’s essential.”

Despite organizers’ fears that this year’s Guelaguetza would be underattended in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and other attacks on immigrant communities, the event was a moment of joy and cultural connection for many in attendance.

“I think with what is going on in our state, in our country, it’s important to have this space to really be ourselves and teach our younger generation that this is important, having community,” said Carmen Morales Arnbrister, an attendee.

Morales Arnbrister, whose father was from Oaxaca, said she is proud to be part of the Oaxacan community, which preserves historic art and culture in its traditions. She said events like La Guelaguetza provide a space to celebrate, share cultural understanding and enrich the community.

“I do understand that there’s a lot of fear in the back of our minds, but I think it’s important to step out and not be so fearful,” said Morales Arnbrister. “We need to support each other so that we’re not alone. We have all these beautiful people and beautiful culture that we should be proud of. We belong here.”

— Chiara Profenna covers religion, faith and cultural connections. Reach her at 503-221-4327; [email protected] or @chiaraprofenna.

The Oregonian/OregonLive receives support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to bring readers stories on religion, faith and cultural connections in Oregon. The Oregonian/OregonLive is solely responsible for all content.