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Tatei Neixa - Photograph ©Juan Negrín 1977 - 2010
During the Ceremony
of Tatei Neixa, The Dance of Our Mother, the beat of the
drum (tepu) accompanies the shaman who chants about the
journey from the western ocean to the eastern desert of Wirikuta
to invoke the Sun. The children play rattles made from round gourds
(caitsa) and their spirits, symbolized by a string with tufts of
white cotton, travel to Wirikuta. A bull or lamb is sacrificed to
thank Our Mother with its blood for rain, corn and fertility. The
young ears of corn, and squash are blessed before they are consumed.
Indian carnations are strewn around the altar and decorate the drum.
In the background the meat of the sacrificed animal hangs to dry
in the sun.
Tatei Neixa - Photograph ©Juan Negrín 1977 - 2010
