ColonialMexicoInsideandOut: A Reunion, Oaxaca-Style

Sunday, February 4, 2018

A Reunion, Oaxaca-Style

Dresses typical of Tehuantepec

The women in these beautiful traditional dresses are not out for a casual stroll. They are part of the reunion of a group from Salina Cruz, a city in the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region of the State of Oaxaca.

A reunion in the US may mean a cook-out or a banquet, but in Oaxaca it means a procession, the mainstay of Oaxacan cultural heritage. There are some processions in Oaxaca that are not religious in nature, but in traditional Mexican life there is little that is purely secular. The spiritual and material manage to intertwine and this was the case with the reunion. This was a gathering of members of a particular religious confraternity, a very basic denominator of social life in many Latin American Communities; some of them happened to be actual blood relatives, as well.

Reunion Procession, Oaxaca City, Oaxaca MX

Some of the group no longer lived in Salina Cruz, but in Oaxaca itself, as in the group below.

Reunion Procession, Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, MX

Like many processions in Oaxaca city, this one began at the church of Santo Domingo,

Reunion Procession in front of Santo Domingo church, Oaxaca MX

and following a traditional processional route, ended at the Oaxaca Cathedral, below.

Oaxaca Cathedral, Oaxaca MX

The fact that the reunion took the form of a religious procession did not rule out its
having a queen or two, as the lovely young women below.

Salina Cruz Procession Queen, Oaxaca MX

Salina Cruz Procession Queens and Escorts

The colorful and elaborate embroidery of the dresses from Tehuantepec puts them among Mexico's most beautiful traditional costumes. The Tehuana dress was worn and made famous by artist Frida Kahlo. Below are some examples of the stunning dress and the elaborate earrings that are worn with it.