Dressed in colorful traditional costumes, and most of them drunk from the night before, dozens of indigenous horsemen Mayans braved danger this Friday in a peculiar horse race to honor their dead in Guatemala.
The gallop of the horses mixed with the music of the marimba and the bustle of hundreds of spectators on an extensive dirt track nestled between mountains in the town of Todos Santos Cuchumatána Mayan municipality of the Mam ethnic group about 150 km northwest of Guatemala City.
The race is part of the traditions to commemorate the All Hallowsa Christian religious date in which Guatemalans flock to cemeteries to remember their deceased relatives.
“Every November 1 we celebrate culture. Once a year we dress elegantly like this,” said Miguel Ángel Ortiz, 26, one of the riders, dressed in a colorful multicolored suit.
Photo: AFP
On a cold and cloudy day, for almost 10 hours the riders with straw hats decorated with ribbons and feathers, ran at high speed to show their skill and courage to avoid falling from the beasts, although some lost their balance and rolled on the ground. .
“This is a joy, you have to be happy“added Ortiz, who participates in the race to “maintain” the tradition of Todos Santos, settled in the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, near the border with Mexico.
“It’s not for everyone”
In Guatemala, a country of 17.8 million inhabitants, 44% of the population is indigenous, according to official figures. The native communities keep alive their different ancestral traditions, which have been mixed with Christian expressions.
The race, which attracts foreign touristsportrays the “revolution” of the Mayan “grandfathers” against the Spanish conquerors, according to historians in documents from the local mayor’s office.
Teams with their respective captain participate in the bullfight, although at the end of the day there are no winners. They also have spiritual guides, since the tradition is rooted in the Mayan worldview.
“Everyone has the right to be riders, but if they are afraid, it is not a sport for them,” said Santiago Cruz, 52, who has raced almost half of his life.
The riders and many of the spectators had come from celebrating from the night before until dawn in enlivened parties by marimba groups and where plenty of alcohol was distributed.
From USA
Among the riders there were also some who emigrated to the United States for better economic opportunities and who returned on this date to maintain the tradition.
“Since I was a child my grandparents always rode horses and that’s why I really liked it.” [participar] since I was a child,” Jonathan Ramos, 25, told AFP, who traveled from the state of Michigan, where he works as an electrician, to participate in this race in his hometown.
It says that, according to the “tradition of the people”, the conquerors did not allow the Mayans to ride horses and since some “rebels” decided to ride, the Spanish “killed” them. The race is for the ancestors to “live all the time,” Ramos said.
“It gives me excitement and adrenaline“be in the race, said Julio Ramírez, 23 years old, who arrived from the Californian city of San Diego.
