Last Speech of
Huey Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc August 12, 1521
“Our Sun has gone down. Our Sun has been lost from view and has left us in complete darkness. But we know it will return again, that it will rise again to light us anew. But while it is there in the Mansion of Silence, let’s join together, let’s embrace each other and in the very center of our being hide all that our hearts love and we know is the Great Treasure.
Let us hide our Temples, our schools, our sacred soccer games, our youth centers, our houses of flowery song, so that only our streets remain. Our homes will enclose us until our New Sun rises. Most honorable fathers and most honorable mothers, may you never forget to guide your young ones, teach your children, while you live, how good it has been and will be.
Until now, our beloved Anahuac sheltered and protected our destinies that our ancestors and our parents enthusiastically received and seeded in our being. Now we will instruct our children how to be good. They will raise themselves up and gain strength and as goodness, make real their great destiny in this, our beloved mother Anahuac.”
Celebrate Danza Mexica: Community Events
Important historical and ceremonial events to remember, celebrate, and honor all those who have come before us.
Last saturday in february
Cuauhtémoc Ceremony
Born on the day Ce Mazatl (One Deer), the 23rd of February in the year Chicome Acatl (Seven Reed), 1501, in our sacred city of Tenochtitlan.
Cuauhtémoc was assassinated on the day Chicome Tochtli (Seven Rabbit), the 28th of February in the year Ome Calli (Two House), 1525, at the hands of the Spanish invaders. They thrust the feet of our Huey Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc onto burning coals, trying to break his will with fire. But he did not cry out, nor did he plead. With every step forced upon him on the long march from our beloved Tenochtitlan to the lands of Honduras, he carried the pain of his burns and the dignity of our ancestors in silence.
Fearing Cuauhtémoc’s leadership and indomitable spirit of resistance that still burned within him—the unyielding flame of our people’s resistance—the Spanish cowards took his life, murdering him out of fear. But they could not kill his spirit. In our hearts, Cuauhtémoc lives on—our last eagle, our warrior of the sun—an eternal symbol of bravery, honor, and defiance. Cuauhtémoc embodies the enduring spirit and discipline of the Mexica people.
Tzilacatiz found the precious remains of our revered Cuauhtémoc. He carried them with solemn care to Tzompaneuahuith, a region within the lands of Guerrero, to the city of Ichcateopan, the place of Tzilacatiz’s birth. There, wrapped in the finest cloths, the earthly vessel of our last Huey Tlatoani was laid to rest, returned to the soil.
March 12
Yancuic Xīhuitl or Mexica New Year
We, the Mexica, have always walked in step with the essence of all creation — not through the ticking of gears or paper decrees, but through the sacred cycles of the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earth beneath our feet.
Our xiuhpohualli, agricultural and solar calendar system, is a flawless weaving of 365.25 days — 18 months of 20 days, with five nemontemi, days of reflection, transition, and balance. And in harmony with it is the tonalpohualli, the 260-day Venetian, agricultural, gestational, and ritual calendar which describes the energy of each day, each person, each destiny. This twin calendar system, created by our ancestors, is not merely timekeeping — it is the sacred cyclical motion of life.
In their desperation to fix the errors with the Julian calendar, whose days no longer matched the seasons, they removed 10 days, added a leap year, and called it the Gregorian calendar. Some nations obeyed. Others refused for over a century. People rioted, demanding their days back — even their bodies knew the rhythm was broken.
But what they didn’t understand is that Time is not a decree or gears. Time is not linear but a sacred cyclical motion.
And still, through all their errors and the destruction that followed their invasion of these lands, the Mexica solar calendar system remains intact — the most precise in the world, more accurate than the Gregorian and rooted in astronomical truth.
And still today, we celebrate the solar calendar system that moves with life itself. In each cycle, in each glyph, our ancestors speak. We remember and we rise with the sun.
March 19/20
Spring/Vernal equinox
When the Sun Stands in Balance: The Spring Equinox in Mexica Traditions
Around March 19/20, we celebrate an important event: This day marks one of the two times in the solar year cycle when day and night are in balance and the sun crosses the celestial midpoint.
For us and our ancestors across Anahuac — from the Mexica of Tenochtitlan to the Zapotec of Monte Albán and the Maya of Chichén Itzá — the equinox is a time of alignment: between sun and earth, light and darkness, it is a time of transformation.
It is a time of renewal. We cleansed our homes. We cleansed our bodies. We purified our spirits. The spring equinox signaled that the Sun, Tonatiuh, was racing higher in the sky. Tonatiuh’s journey would bring longer days, warmer air, and the return of life to the lands.
Elders and priests observed at temples across Anahuac the path of Tonatiuh, marking the equinox as the time to begin the cultivation of the sacred maize, beans, peppers, tomatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, and amaranth.
It was also a time of ceremony. People gathered on temple platforms and mountain tops. Light would hit specific stones or glyphs carved with precision — a testimony to our ancestral astronomical mastery. We did not need clocks. We built temples that told us the moment of cosmic balance. To us, this balance is not simply astronomical — it is spiritual.
The equinox is a reminder of duality, one that is sacred and cyclical, which are undeniable elements of our world. Ometeotl: life and death, fire and water — all things in harmony. On that moment, day and night in their perpetual dance are equal, if just for a moment, before the light begins to rise again.
During these times, we walk forward with gratitude. We remember who we are: children of the Sun, guided by the stars and in rhythm with the essence of the cosmos.
March 20, 2026 12:50 PM PDT, March 20, 2027 1:24 PM PDT, March 19, 2028 10:17 PM PDT, March 20, 2029 1:01 AM PDT, March 20, 2030 4:26 PM PDT
March 21
Birth of Benito Juarez
Born on March 21, 1806, in San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca, Benito Juárez was of Zapotec Indigenous heritage. Orphaned at 3, he spoke only Zapotec in his early years and received no formal education until later in life. Despite these hardships, Juárez eventually became a lawyer, a judge, and from 1847 to 1852, he served as the Governor of Oaxaca.
Juárez was elected President in 1858 and was a central figure in the fight against Conservatives during the War of Reform (1858–1861). One of the reforms was the nationalization of property owned by the Catholic Church, separating Church and State. As part of Juárez’s financial reforms, he suspended foreign debt payments to Spain, England, and France for two years. All 3 nations sent troops to Veracruz in 1861. Through diplomacy, Juárez reached agreements with Spain and England. However, France, under Napoleon III, escalated the conflict and invaded Mexico.
In 1864, Napoleon III installed Archduke Maximilian of Austria as Emperor of Mexico, sparking the Second French Intervention. Juárez refused to recognize this regime. After years of guerrilla warfare and national resistance, Maximilian was captured and executed in 1867. Juárez was reelected in 1867 and 1871, but his presidency was cut short by his death on July 18, 1872.
Through the Liberal Constitution and the Laws of Reform, he dismantled the power of the Catholic Church over civil life, championed education, and asserted that the Mexican nation belonged to all its people, not just elites or foreign powers.
As the first elected Indigenous president in the postcolonial Americas, his story is one of determination and Indigenous resilience. He proved that a man of humble roots and native tongue could lead a fractured nation through war, foreign invasion, and internal division. His words, “El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz” (Respect for the rights of others is peace), are etched into the soul of modern Mexico.
Benito Juárez stands today as a national hero, honored every March 21st with a public holiday, monuments, and memorials throughout Mexico. For many Indigenous peoples, he is a symbol of resistance, self-determination, cultural survival, and dignified leadership in a land still healing from colonial wounds.
(For more on the French invasion and resistance, see Cinco de Mayo.)
March 31
Birth of Cesar Chavez
César Estrada Chávez born on March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona, and passed away on April 23, 1993. The son of farm workers, Chávez lived from an early age the hardship and exploitation that were part of agricultural work in the U.S.. Alongside Dolores Huerta, they co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in 1962 to mobilize the migrant workforce. The NFWA merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to become the United Farm Workers (UFW) in 1966.
In 1965, Chávez and the NFWA participated in a strike organized by Filipino workers against California grape growers, demanding fair wages and better working conditions. Chávez urged a nationwide boycott of table grapes and asked all people of conscience to support the farm workers.
The movement garnered international support and continued for five years. Chávez’s dedication to peace, including his 1968 hunger strike, drew widespread attention and moral support, including from Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who praised Chávez’s dedication to justice.
César Chávez is remembered as a symbol of resistance against oppression and economic exploitation. He lives in all struggles for dignity, fair wages, and humane working conditions for all workers. Chávez believed justice is not won through violence, but through collective action, sacrifice, and courage. His words, “Sí, se puede” (“Yes, it can be done”), continue to inspire generations to stand up against injustice in the fields and in the streets.
April 10
Death of Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata: The Heart of the People, The Spirit of the Land
Born on August 8, 1879, in Anenecuilco, Morelos, Zapata born in an ejido, the communal soil tilled by Indigenous hands for generations.
Zapata is not just a figure of history; he is our general and our spirit of resistance. When he cried “Tierra y Libertad” (Land and Freedom), he gave voice to the ancient understanding that land is life, not property, not for profit, and not for exploitation. His Plan de Ayala, demanding the return of stolen ancestral lands to those who work them, was not a political document but a promise to the people that liberty is rooted in the soil.
Even after his assassination on April 10, 1919, Zapata did not die. As Zapata once declared, it is better to die on one’s feet than to live on one’s knees. And with this, his death became the seeds of resistance in our hearts and in the chants of those who fight against injustice and systems of exploitation forced upon us based on the color of our skin, our language, our dress, and our culture.
Zapata represents resistance against those who view themselves as being from above, the elites who have long tried to silence our voices and steal our lands. His name reminds us that true power does not come from titles or gold — it comes from the people who stand together, unbought and unbroken.
On April 10th, during our ceremonies, we chant his name and raise his banner not in mourning, but in celebration of his resistance. Because when the struggle calls, Zapata answers through us. He is the heart that never surrenders, in a time of betrayal, and even in death. Zapata vive! La lucha sigue!
April 30
Dia De Los Niños
In Mexico, el Día del Niño — Children’s Day — is celebrated on April 30th. It’s a day dedicated to honoring the joy, innocence, and importance of our children, the future generation. On this day, schools, families, and communities come together to celebrate with games, music, gifts, and activities that remind us how valuable and deserving of love, care, and protection every child is.
On September 26, 1924, the League of Nations adopted the “Declaration of the Rights of the Child” and titled it the Geneva Declaration, recognizing children’s rights. It is unfortunate, to say the least, that there are those out there who need to be told to recognize children’s rights. On November 20, 1959, the United Nations adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Many countries choose to celebrate Universal Children’s Day on November 20, while Mexico celebrates it on April 30.
Día del Niño should serve as a reminder that every child deserves happiness, safety, education, and a voice that is heard.
May 5
Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo: A Victory for the People, A Legacy of Indigenous Courage
On May 5, 1862, General Ignacio Zaragoza led an army estimated at 2,000 mostly Indigenous fighters, many of whom were farmers and lacked formal military training. Against a force of 6-7,000 professionally trained French soldiers who were equipped with advanced weaponry, including long-range rifles. The French were considered one of the best European military forces of their time.
In the muddy fields outside the city, those fighters stood their ground and won, and the world saw that Mexico and its people would not bow. It shows that even in the face of powerful empires, when the will of the people is strong, victory is possible.
The victory at Puebla became a symbol of Mexican resistance and unity, especially for Indigenous communities who had long defended those lands—first from colonizers, and then from foreign invaders once again.
Today, Cinco de Mayo is not a celebration of war, but a celebration of dignity, identity, and Indigenous strength. We honor those who stood up to an empire, and we carry their memory forward in the fight for justice, dignity, and liberty.
May 10
In Mexico – Mother’s Day
Honoring Our Mothers: The Givers of Life, The Keepers of the Earth
Dia De las Madres has its roots in other continents. In our traditions as Indigenous peoples of Anahuac, we do not need to look to distant lands to find reasons to honor our mothers.
In Mexico, we celebrate Día de las Madres on May 10th, a day set aside to express gratitude to our mothers. For their love, their support, their guidance, their protection, and their sacrifice.
For us, this celebration is a continuation of what our ancestors already knew — to honor our mothers is to honor all of creation. We give thanks to Tonantzin, our sacred mother, the Earth herself, who nourishes all beings. We also remember Cihuacoatl, the fierce divine mother who watches over childbirth and the spirits of women who gave their lives in labor — warriors of another kind.
To celebrate our mothers is to recognize and thank them as our first teachers, first healers, and the first home we ever knew. Not just on May 10th but every day, we bow our heads in gratitude to the women who bring life into the world, walk beside us, and guide us with strength, love, and ancestral wisdom.
A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it’s finished; no matter how brave its warriors or how strong their weapons. -Tsitsistas saying
Last Saturday in July
Xilonen Ceremomy
In Danza Mexica, we hold many ceremonies across the seasons to honor our community, our fallen warriors, those who resist, and the sacred rhythms of creation. For our young women, the rite of passage is symbolized through the maize: a sacred journey from Xilonen to Chicomecóatl — from potential to power, in harmony with the turning of Tonatiuh, the sun.
To us, maize is not a crop — it is our origin, our sustainer, our sacred inheritance. It is the breath of our ancestors, the nourishment of our mother, and the foundation of our survival. Xilonen is the young form of Chicomecóatl, the representation of sustenance and abundance, who appears in full at the height of the harvest.
During the sacred month of Huei Tecuilhuitl, we gather to offer songs, flowers, and our deepest gratitude to Xilonen. Through this ceremonial honoring, we renew our commitment to the earth, to our community, to our ancestors, and to the divine cycle of growth and renewal that shapes all life — from seed to stalk, from girl to woman, from earth to sky. Xilonen embodies the sacred promise of life just beginning to grow.
August 13
Day of Resistance
August 13: The Fall of Tenochtitlan — The Rise of Resistance
It was not a conquest. It was an invasion. It was not a surrender shrouded in fear. It was a strategy to protect our people.
Up until August 12th, 1521, though vastly outnumbered and weakened by plague and hunger. Cuauhtémoc led our warriors through the canals and stone streets with guerrilla tactics, turning every causeway, every temple, every alley into a battlefield.
The Mexica’s resistance was not just a military one, it was spiritual, cultural, and ancestral. The brave warriors fought to protect a way of life rooted in balance, honor, and the sacred rhythms of the cosmos.
As fire consumed what was left of Tenochtitlan on August 13, Cuauhtémoc, Tecuichpo, and the remaining council boarded a canoe. They were not fleeing; they paddled directly toward the Spanish and confronted the invaders directly. To say he was caught escaping is a lie written by those who feared him even in death, and those who do not understand bravery and love for one’s people. Cuauhtémoc offered a conditional surrender, not for his own life, but to spare his people. His words, “I surrender, on the condition that my people be allowed to leave the island to search for food and that my wife be left unharmed,” are not those of a selfish man, but of a general still protecting his people.
As they tore through our cities, burned our codices, enslaved our people, all while calling it “salvation”. Some neighboring nations, driven by self-interest, sided with the invaders, choosing temporary privilege over lasting freedom. But many others of Anahuac chose resistance, many paid with their blood, their languages, and their lands. But we are still here.
August 13 was not a day of defeat, but the beginning of resistance. We went from warriors of Tenochtitlan to warriors of memory, culture, and survival. While our temples were torn down, our spirits rose. While our languages were silenced in the courts, they were whispered in our homes and sung in ceremonies. While our lands were stolen, our roots grew deeper.
August 13th, Day Of Resistance, is one that lives in our sacred ceremonies, in every drumbeat in our dances, and in every song.
We do not forget. We remember. We resist. We remain.
September 16
Mexican Independence
Not For the Crown or the Church, But For Our Children: Mexican War of Independence
On September 16, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Catholic priest in the town of Dolores in Guanajuato, rang the church bell, which was the spark that ignited the people to rise up against colonial rule. And the fight for Mexican independence from the Spanish Empire began. His cry, known as the Grito de Dolores, there are different accounts of what he said, but he did invoke the Virgin of Guadalupe and condemned the Spanish crown. His famous rally cry included calls like: “Death to the Spaniards! Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe!”
Within weeks, tens of thousands of mostly Indigenous and nearly all poor campesinos joined the uprising, which grew to over 80,000 by the time they reached Mexico City. Instead of attacking, Hidalgo chose to retreat. He was captured a short time later, tried, and executed in 1811. His head was placed in a cage and displayed in Guanajuato as a warning to future rebels. But the spirit of defiance and rebellion against oppression was not, and has not been, extinguished.
Hidalgo’s death only fueled the movement further. More leaders rose, and after over a decade of war, independence was declared on September 27, 1821. However, the struggle didn’t end — Agustín de Iturbide named himself Emperor of Mexico, and a new era of internal oppression and elite control began, continuing the cycle of struggle for Indigenous and working-class people.
October 12
Anti-Columbus Day, Dia de la Raza, Indigenous Peoples Day, etc…
We must remember that the lies of Columbus have had major effects on this Continent, and today we must tell the truths about what he did, and moreover, how the world benefited from the lives of all our people. He was a killer, not a hero.
November 2
Dia de los Muertos
This ceremony used to take place around July/August, but was changed by the Catholic church. To be with All Saints Day and All Hallows Night. A ritual known today as Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
The ritual is celebrated in Mexico and certain parts of the United States, including the Valley. Although the ritual has since been merged with Catholic theology, it still maintains the basic principles of the Aztec ritual, such as the use of skulls. Today, people don wooden skull masks called calacas and dance in honor of their deceased relatives. The Mexica and other Anahuac civilizations kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during the ritual. The skulls were used to symbolize death and rebirth. The skulls were used to honor the dead, whom the Mexica and other Anahuac civilizations believed came back to visit during the month-long ritual.
Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, they embraced it. To them, life was a dream, and only in death did they become truly awake. However, the Spaniards considered the ritual to be sacrilegious. They perceived the indigenous people to be barbaric and pagan.
In their attempts to convert them to Catholicism, the Spaniards tried to kill the ritual. But like the old Aztec spirits, the ritual refused to die.
December 12
Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe / Dia de Tonantzin Tlalli
There are many lies about this holiday. We search for truth. But in the end, we maintain that we have never forgotten our real mother. On December 9, 1531, Juan Diego crossed the barren hill called Tepeyac to attend Mass. He was brought to a sudden halt by a blinding light and the sound of unearthly music. Before him appeared an astounding vision–a beautiful, dark-skinned woman who, calling the Indian “my son,”. She told Juan Diego she desired to have a church built on Tepeyac hill, and asked him to relay that message to Bishop Juan de Zumarraga. On December 12, while rushing to find a priest to attend to a seriously ill uncle, he took a shortcut across the hill. The Virgin once again appeared, and Juan Diego told her of the Bishop’s request. The Virgin instructed him to pick roses from the usually sere and desolate hill and deliver them to Zumarraga as the sign. Juan Diego gathered up the miraculous blossoms in his mantle and hurried off to complete his mission. Once again, before the Bishop, he let the roses spill out before him. To the wonder of all assembled, a perfect image of La Virgen Morena (the Dark Virgin) was revealed emblazoned on Juan Diego’s cloak. By order of the Bishop, a small church was soon constructed on the site designated by the Virgin. Skeptics are quick to point out the unlikely coincidence of the Virgin’s appearance on Tepeyac, the very site of an Aztec temple dedicated to Tonantzin (earth goddess, mother of the gods, and protectress of humanity), which had been devastated by order of Bishop Zumarraga. This day is dedicated to La Virgen de Guadalupe throughout the nation; millions of the faithful will gather on December 12 for processions, prayers, songs, dances, and fireworks to honor “La Reina de México” (the Queen of Mexico).
December 31 – January 1
Zapatista Ceremony/Celebration
We come together to remember why the Zapatistas rose against the Mexican government. We teach ourselves and seek more energy to win. We recognize that we have our own front to fight up here, where we live. Locally, regionally, and nationally.