Superponer sonidos, superponer culturas. La construcción de una identidad nahua mediante la música y la danza

Abstract

In addition to analysing the ceremonial function of the musical-choreutic of the nahua people from the Sierra Norte de Puebla (México), this text focuses attention on the dynamics established during recent years by various figures and institutions to evaluate and demonstrate the relationship between the indigenous population today with their “Aztec forebears”. The connection with the pre-hispanic past constitutes a symbolic model of reference that has been converted into a fundamental aspect of the rhetoric of their identity. It is impossible, however, not to interpret this claim also as a political plan which attempts to rebalance the power relationship between the indigenous and mestizos, by demonstrating difference through the preservation and practice of music and dance traditions belonging to the indigenous community so that they assume political significance. Culture is seen as a relevant element in drawing an “ethnic boundary” that seeks to counteract the position of political, economic, and social subordination to which the nahua people have been subjected.