Mascarilla de la Danza de los Negritos

Our family member Paciano Aquino Dominguez has been making these little masks since his teen years and he has been inspired to create from la Danza de los Negritos from Villa Hidalgo Yalalag for you all. Legend tells the Danza de los Negritos is centuries old and the dance was learned from an expedition of merchant Yalaltecos, who traveled to Esquipulas, Guatemala. On their way back they got lost through the jungle, and as they grew tired they were certain there was no escaping the jungle. That’s when, through the echoes, they heard sounds and as they approached they saw people. In that moment Black people appear celebrating around a fire as they found, from what was believed, their liberation from slavery. That sound is what saved our ancestors, as they approached they saw dancing and that’s where they learned the steps to la Danza de los Negritos, these Black people showed our Yalaltecos how to return home safely. It is through this solidarity that la Danza de los Negritos was born and was offered as a promise to remember their salvation to safety when it was first performed in 1777. It is only through Mexico’s project of “mestizaje” do we understand now that Black people throughout Oaxaca were forced out of our communities after having created solidarity with our Zapotec ancestors. Mask is approximately 1" at the widest point.