Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

There are festivals and celebrations throughout the year at “the house of the coyote” —the Spanish translation of Ihuatzio or Jiuatzio, municipality of Tzintzuntzan—, but one of the most important is on October 4th for San Francisco de Asís, patron saint of the town. Eight days that reflect months of work and community collaboration led by the Cargueros Capitanes, Cargueros Ayudantes, who take care of the image of the Saint for a year; and their respective Uandaris, who must speak the language and be married couples. They are in charge of coordinating and supervising that everything is done as “custom” indicates, because they have already been Cargueros and have the knowledge; thus the male is in charge of coordinating the males and the females. Uandaris to women.

The practice of the P'urhépecha Mass is striking, in which original elements such as the language, the altar with natural elements, and the instruments: the conch and the kiringua are fused.

At the end of the mass, the dancing begins and the music never stops: Moors and Soldiers (French perhaps?), with their colorful outfits that vary from town to town, show their steps in the temple and also in the atrium. The origin of these characters is not important, what is important is the current meaning: dancing for the Saint.

The dance of the Moors and Soldiers ends. The banquet awaits and the women sway in their hurried walk the beautiful rolls and embroidered aprons. The hearth brings them together and between chatter and laughter the tortillas fill the taxcal de chuspata woven with their own hands. Today everything is allowed, even drinking in the Church, because today everything is blessed by Saint Francis of Assisi. It will be like this all week, when the festival is over and the town returns to its daily tranquility, waiting for the next celebration.