Targeted in immigration raids, Mixteco and Triqui communities hold festivals of resistance.
Dancers from Las Azucenas de Maria perform Jarabes from Oaxaca's central valleys on the stage in the plaza.
In many agricultural fields of the West Coast of the United States, you're more likely to hear Mixtec or Triqui languages spoken than Spanish. Both are common among the Indigenous people of southern Mexico, some of whom now pick grapes for Napa and Sonoma County's prestige wineries, or apples in century-old orchards. Without their labor, rural economies in California would collapse.
Yet Mixteco and Triqui migrants are being increasingly targeted in immigration raids terrorizing California's rural communities. In farmworker families, mothers and fathers now give their children phone numbers to call if parents are abducted on the way to or from work. It can be an act of bravery simply to walk to the store, or to drive a car at night.
That made it an act of resistance when Triquis and Mixtecos in the Sonoma County town of Healdsburg came out in late July to celebrate the unique culture they've brought with them over the course of their 2,000-mile journey from Oaxaca and Guerrero. They call their festival the Guelaguetza - a celebration featuring a fabulous display of dancers in elaborate masks and tall headdresses, performing to music from home. Indigenous towns in Mexico often have their own dance; the Guelaguetza brings them together in all their vivid variety.
The main Guelaguetza is held in Oaxaca itself, but over the last four decades, the number of Mixtecos, Triquis, Chatinos, and other Indigenous peoples in the U.S. has grown so large that there are now several Guelaguetzas held each year north of the border. Indigenous communities organize dance troupes partly to show off their culture, and partly to give young people growing up in the U.S. a chance to learn the language and dances, and to imagine a home they may have never seen.
When Healdsburg's Triquis decided to do a Guelaguetza, it would be, as one organizer told Truthout, a Guelaguetza de Resistencia, or a Resistance Guelaguetza. The act of simply dancing in public on a Sunday in the town plaza was a way of saying, "Aqui Estamos, y no nos vamos" - "We're here, and we're not leaving." And even Healdsburg's mayor and one of its council members attended, offering their welcome.
The late Mixteco community leader Rufino Dominguez-Santos explained that dances and language are not just a way to celebrate identity, but are an essential glue that keeps communities together, helping them survive in a hostile environment. "Beyond organizing and teaching our rights," he told Truthout back in 2006, "we try to save our language. Even though 500 years have passed since the Spanish conquest, we still speak it. We are preserving our way of dancing, and rescuing our lost beliefs - that nature is something sacred for us, just as it was for our ancestors."
In these photographs, Healdsburg's Indigenous community activists showcase their deep roots. In spite of fear and racism, the culture of their hometowns in Mexico have been reproduced and they now celebrate thousands of miles further north in California.
The Tiliche - which means "the old one," but also refers to the rags or castoffs it is made from - is a figure in dances from the town of Putla de Guerrero. The costume is put on display to invite people to the Guelaguetza in Healdsburg, California.
Musicians from Half Moon Bay, California, gather for the Guelaguetza.
A member of the Grupo Diablos Mixtecos de Oaxaca wears a devil's mask. Members of the informal network perform and share ideas at each other's events, bringing more women into the dance, as well as new styles of masks.
An older member of Grupo Calpully XochilYauhtli (Casa Flor Santa Maria) wears her feather headdress.
A procession of dancers, the Calenda, sets out around Healdsburg Plaza, led by the gigantes - giant processional figures - and a globe, a custom of the towns in Oaxaca's central valleys.
Two performers of Sonoma County's Comite Pochtlan, a local group of cultural activists, wear costumes of the Viejos de Putla Villa de Guerrero.
Members of Sonoma County's Comite Pochtlan wear costumes to perform the Comparsa of the Viejos de Putla Villa de Guerrero.
Dancers and musicians join the parade in the Calenda.
Food stands line the plaza. This one advertises aguas, or drinks made from rice (horchata, and horchata with strawberries), cactus fruit (tuna), Oaxacan squash (chilacayote), and other fruits and vegetables.
This food stand sells Oaxacan mole that can be made from chocolate, sesame seeds, chiles, and other ingredients.
Adorned in the elaborate headdresses and flowing skirts of the chinas Oaxaqueñas, dancers from Las Azucenas de Maria, a group from the San Joaquin Valley, perform a dance from the chinas barrio of the city of Oaxaca de Juarez.
A musician carries his huge bass drum, keeping time for the dancers in the Calenda.
A violinist plays the music that accompanies the Triqui women dancers behind him.
A family in the plaza watches the Calenda, alongside two young performers of Las Azucenas de Maria.
Dancers from the Grupo Folklorico Huaxyacac gather in the Calenda.
Dancers from Las Azucenas de Maria perform.
Before performances begin on stage, people from different Indigenous communities give a welcome in their own languages, while Healdsburg Mayor Evelyn Mitchell (right) talks with Vice Mayor Chris Herrod (center).
Members of Las Azucenas de Maria stand in the Calenda.
Members of the Comite Pochtlan from Sonoma County perform a humorous dance on stage.
Members of Las Azucenas de Maria watch the processions.
This member of Las Azucenas de Maria is the oldest dancer taking part in the festivities, according to the troupe.
Fausto Guzman and his wife are leaders in the Triqui community in northern California. "The Military Response to Sanctuary Cities and Immigrants' Right to Work Letters and Politics: Mitch Jeserich interviews David Bacon: KPFA, June 10, 2025 https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-june-10-2025/
Immigrant Workers and the Recent History of Immigration Raids A presentation by David Bacon at the UCLA Latin American Institute, with photographs and transcript. 3/11/25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FlsyWTBWso
David Bacon @photos4justice on the daily lives and ongoing struggles (both personal and political) of farmworkers - interview on Against the Grain with C.S. Soong
Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press, 2008) Recipient: C.L.R. James Award, best book of 2007-2008 http://www.beacon.org/Illegal-People-P780.aspx
LISTEN: https://linktr.ee/thatshowthelightgetsinpodcast(or anywhere you get your podcasts) MAS QUE UN MURO Cinco Entrivistas sobre la exposicion en el Museo Nacional de las Culturas del Mundo, CDMX:
