Cross Program: Mixteco and Basque Festival Traditions
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival / Series 4: Sounds of California / Audio
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Sound recording (digital audio file)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2016 July 04
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.2016, Item SFF2016_0704_SOCA_Stage_and_Plaza_0005
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Listening copies available
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Grupo Nuu Yuku/Danza de los Diablos de San Miguel Cuevas; Banda Brillo de San Miguel Cuevas; Amy Vivian Kitchener Participants from the Basque and Sounds of California programs will demonstrate and discuss the history and customs of their respective festival traditions. The iconic Basque Joaldunak procession, rooted in pre-Christian ritual and now heralding the arrival of Carnaval, is performed in two villages in northern Nafarroa: Ituren and Zubieta. The participants wear elaborate costumes including a conical hat decorated with multicolored ribbons and feathers, large sheepskins, and four copper bells—two large and two small—tied securely to the joaldun's back. The processions take place over two days, the Monday and Tuesday after the last Sunday in January. The processors walk with a rhythmic step, making the bells on their backs resound. The hartza, a bear character, and the shepherd liven up the celebration and keep order. Although the origin of the procession is unknown, it is closely linked to the identity and cultural heritage of these two villages, where everyone participates in the food, music, and revelry. Grupo Nuu Yuku's danza de los diablos, or dance of the devils, represents a ized local tradition unique to San Miguel Cuevas in the Juxtlahuaca district of the Mixteca Baja in northern Oaxaca, Mexico. This dance is performed during patron saint fiestas, such as the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12. It was historically part of the dance drama enacted as the Moros y Cristianos series of festival performances that commemorate the battles between Moors (Muslims) and Christians during the period known as the Reconquista (from the eighth century through the fifteenth century) in Spain. The vivid wooden masks and regalia are handmade by traditional artists from San Miguel Cuevas and locally in the San Joaquin Valley.