Hola my dear friend,
Doesn’t anyone make a traditional tamale anymore?
Last weekend we attended the Artisan Expo for the Guelaguetza in Oaxaca. It’s an annual gathering of the 8 original pueblos that includes dancing shows, food, mezcal and handmade goods. They had a coffee pavilion, so we knew it was going to be good.
The free artisans’ expo was incredible. So many huipils (blouses) with handwoven and embroidery. Lots of beautiful and colorful handicrafts. At the Mezcal and Food Expo ($7 usd) we tasted coffee from all over the region and tried many sauces and moles.
At the food faire (no fee) we bought tamales and Tejate, a delish beverage made from corn and cacao. Honestly, the only thing that didn’t deliver was the tamales. They were made with too much baking powder and dried, milled corn rather than fresh milled corn masa.
If you know my background, you know I’m the keeper of traditional tamales in my family. It’s not a real tamale if it isn’t fresh corn. Not yesterday’s corn either. Fresh. Today.
So I was very surprised that at this pinnacle of performing culture that the tamales were from a package!
The Guelaguetza has become such an event for performing culture rather than an actual tradition because the tickets to the dance (the centerpiece event) are about $1500 USD each and sell out within days. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to attend at that price.
The locals cannot afford to go to their own traditional celebrations. Everything has been catered to 100,000 tourists. Hence performing culture.
The Guelaguetza was something I was really looking forward to attending. As a child I was part of the balet folklorico, dancing at events to show others our culture and share in the celebration of our traditions. Waving several yards of fabric adorned with ribbons so it looks like fluid swirls while tap dancing in perfect sync with a dozen others isn’t as easy as it looks.
The commodification of culture and traditions to the point of excluding the very people that make this region so unique creates a caricature of tradition that is meant to embody the resilience of what survivance means to Indigenous people.
While this is happening, many places in the northern hemisphere are literally baking in record heat. I saw a TikTok of a man giving water to a downed bird too heat-exhausted to fly. Consider putting out water with corks to your neighborhood creatures (the corks are for the bees so they don’t drown).
So, I invite us to ponder where we are finding our resilience and where it’s being repackaged and sold back to us. I’ve included an article about words for these emotions of losing our home planet to outsourced entropy as mega corporations steal our planet’s Time.
And, if you’re tired of going it alone… I’ve included links below to ways you can work with me in collective.
Stay wild, love fiercely. Your presence is golden.
xo Ixchel
(keep scrolling or you’ll miss the good stuff….)
P.S. The private podcast is in the works… stay tuned.
The Era of Climate Change Has Created a New EmotionWhat word might describe losing your home while staying in one place?
I’ve really enjoyed Glenn Albrecht’s way with new words… both painful and joyful ways of describing our relationship to Earth. Eutierra is a fave for describing the Interbeing with Earth. What word could combine dispossesion, home woe, and root shock to describe how we feel for the planet and their inhabitants in these times of climate chaos? Glenn Albrecht has one for us.
(Link to article in The Atlantic)
I’m so stoked to be a part of this genius team supporting folks that have been in business for a few years but have yet to find that One Key Offer plus the systems, marketing, and revenue that provides an inclusive, sustainable, high-touch model for riding the waves of these times.
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I was raised and bore children on the traditional, unceded, and stolen lands of the Coast and Central Valley Miwok (colonized as Petaluma, CA) and Nisenan (colonized as Sacramento and Fair Oaks, CA), past, present, and future. I also write, work, and live in the highland forest of the traditional, unceded and stolen lands of the Totonac, Nahua, and Mexicah, past, present, and future, in what is known as Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico.
P.P.S. I do not live or consent to the colonial impositions regarding the construct of Time. I also practice honoring rhythms of work, play, and rest so that I can serve you with embodied presence and with loving care. This means I may take several days to respond to your requests and questions. (h/t Eva Glamaris)
P.P.S. A mention is not necessarily an endorsement of someone. It’s an acknowledgment, a citation, of the origin of information in my process of understanding. (h/t Kelly Diels)
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Copyright © 2026, Cheyenne, WY, and Veracruz, Mexico, All rights reserved. Sharing your lineage of knowledge is decolonial. When iterating, please cite me. Not citing is epistemicide.
