Jennifer Malone (Wukchumni, Tachi, Yowlumni) comes from a long line of basketweavers, including her grandmother, Beatrice Arancis, and her mother, Marie Wilcox. Jennifer is an active basketry teacher, has partnered with and displayed at many community events, and is a board member of the California Indian Basketweavers Association. Jennifer is…
Grupo Cultura Yoso Nuu Viko was formed in 2008 by parents and youth interested in preserving and transmitting indigenous Mixtec traditions and culture, specifically traditional sones and chilenas of the San Juan Mixtepec region of Oaxaca. Played on violins and guitars, this music plays a crucial role during social events such…
In 2013, the Asociation de la Pelota Mixteca de California Central received funding from ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program for the Festival de la Pelota Mixteca, taking place each weekend between May and June. The Oaxcan game of pelota is played by men utilizing an ornate…
Deshilado (des-ē-lah’-do), or Mexican openwork embroidery, is traditionally used on household items such as tablecloths, napkins, and linens. Openwork embroidery is the art of removing threads from a fabric to create a design over which embroidery is made. Patricia Zavala de Arias learned deshilado from her mother in her hometown…
In 1999, around 20 people native of San Pablo Tijaltepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, arrived in Taft, California (a small community in the southeastern part of Kern County). As it happens in many other places, more people from the same community continued to settle in Taft. Now over a decade later, there…
Mexican folkloric dance
Mixtec traditional medicine
Oaxacan foodways
Western Mono Tumpline weaving
Mexican ranchera music
