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Category: Art and Photography
Check out the new "X Column" highlighting last month's Mujeres de Maiz "Somos Medicina" and In Lak Ech.
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http://www. myspace.com/mujermaiz
http://www. myspace.com/inlakech
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Column of the Americas
Maiz Medicine: MujeresMaizCreacion
April 21, 2008
By Roberto Rodriguez
The words are rhythmic… they are spoken, sung and danced to the beat of a drum every March 8 – Dia Internacional de la mujer. On this particular evening at Self-Help Graphics, they can even be heard down the street on Cesar Chavez Blvd. in East L.A. They are wisdom, based on traditions and prophesy. Some are found in the Popul Vuh – the ancient sacred book of the Maya – about the birth of maiz and humans. Similar stories are also found in other ancient Indigenous codices and in the words of the abuelos, the elders… found in The Legend of the Suns, about how red ants showed Quetzalcoatl – the beautiful or plumed serpent – the location of the seeds of maiz.
These stories and teachings – including those of Chicomecoatl – the feminine energy of maiz – are also found in the Huehuetlatolli – the ancient word of Nahua-Maya peoples – gente de maiz – people of corn.
The words come from the recently published Somos Medicina – We are medicine – by the Mujeres de Maiz – 'the women of corn' collective. From elders, to mujeres to young Cihuatl spirits, their words are medicinal, yet they are not from the past. They are alive because the mujeres are alive. They are ancient because their ideas are ancient. And yet, their work may be better described as Yankuiktlahtolli – la Nueva Palabra or the New Word, though both ancient and new are fused into their work… work that challenges racial, sexual and gender oppression in and out of their/our communities.
Somos Medicina is more than words. They are dreams spoken, sung and painted to heartbeats… often filled with satire and humor. They are the 21st century definition of In Xochitl in Cuicatl: poetry & song. Their work and their words is MujerCreation.
Yet unlike the Huehuetlahtolli, their work will not be found in museums nor in libraries. Neither will it be found in polished plays or well-rehearsed stories… because the stories have no scripts. They are being written and created as we speak – in part, created by women who are asserting their reality as mujeres with voices – with Palabra. Their performances are works not in progress, but under construction. Better yet, they are being created – creating cultura. Part resistance and part creation. Finding their place in creation. They are also part of building the story, or stories. During a time when society views Mexicans, Central and South American peoples in the United States as illegitimate human beings – in many cases, not even human – it is the stories within Somos Medicina that heal the spirit. They are stories for peoples in-between stories.
The stories begin with maiz, but also nopal, peyote and mesquite. They begin with the fire and the drum. The stories are ancient. But the stories are new. They begin with ancient wanderings and ancient places – Tonalcapetl and Tamuanchan – the mountain of sustenance and the place where maiz is created – and they end with north-bound migrations and urban reservations. They begin with the most amazing creation and end with 'gente the hielo' (ICE) chasing gente de maiz. They begin with creation amid destruction… with rehumanization journeys, amid the many roads of dehumanization.
They begin with journeys of peace, dignity and justice… and journeys to Teotihuacan – the place of legitimation… then on to Chiapas – the new place of legitimation. They continue with journeys to the United Nations, only to find that all their journeys return to the heart, the heart of U.S. barrios or urban reservations.
The contribution of Mujeres de Maiz is more than a new world that they are helping to create. It is a change in axis mundi: a change in the center of the universe. From a point on a map – Aztlan – to Tamuanchan: the birthplace of maize. From geography to the cosmic tree. From still yet more borders, to who we are, what we are made of and from where we come from. From reaction to creation.
At the heart of this change in Axis mundi is In Lak Ech – or mujeres con Palabra – part of the Mujeres de Maiz collective. In Lak Ech is comprised of Marisol Torres, Felicia Montes, Claudia Mercado, Cristina Gorocica, Rachel Thorson Véliz, Marlene Beltran and Liza Hita. Their work – spoken word, hip-hop, poetry and song – constitutes 10 years of documentation of not simply Xicana herstory – but also ten years since this shift in axis mundi. This shift represents not simply the assertion of a voice for mujeres but also, a new voice for all peoples who have been here, not for hundreds, but thousands of years. With ancient stories and new stories. With ancient traditions and new traditions. Con Palabra. MujerCreacionMaiz.
© Column of the Americas 2008
Rodriguez can be reached at XColumn@gmail.com
For information regarding Mujeres de Maiz and Somos Medicina Zine, go to: www. mujeresdemaiz. net
For information regarding In Lak Ech – and their CD Mujeres con Palabra – can be obtained via: wwwinlakech. net
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