Ikoots, Huave Chord Trio

The first Mayoress from San Dionisio del Mar in Oaxaca will be taking her charge in January 2017. Teresita de Jesús Ojeda, a Law graduate, only 26 years old, living with her parents and her sisters (one twin sister who is studying to become a doctor) is stirring already, so many issues. What seems to be a relevant issue just by itself (indigenous, woman in politics, talk about Glass Ceilings!), this specific zone never had a "huave" mayoress before. 

"Huave" (also spelled Wave) was imposed from nearby towns and comes from the Zapotec dialect which means, people rotten by water, which explains why two of the four villages have baptized themselves with different names: People from San Mateo del Mar call themselves Ikoots, while in San Francisco del Mar, use the term Kunajts, to both, it means "Us".

The usually "juchiteco" governed municipality has already dealt with complicated issues since 2013 against the State Police [Radio Ikoot] due to forceful displacement of indigenous people from their communities. Spanish company, Mareña Renovables, whom after a lost trial is now called Eólica del Sur along with the IDB have been fighting for these lands to develop eolic corridors. In Oaxaca, 21 of these projects have been approved with no previous consultation to the people living in the area. Even further, they have been ushered in the middle of the night with no voice or vote about it.

So I insist. We have our own problems to fix. Lurking in the shadows of every perverse government, there is always some decaying interest of making profit of paradises that are now completely lost. Not necessarily because people loose their land, or because fishing can't be practiced around eolic parks and people loose their livelihood, the worst part is people, brothers and sisters who once lived quietly, proudly to be an Ikoot, are now fighting against their own kin.

This is the deteriorating result behind the interest of the big companies, they plant a "magic" seed of small, immediate profit in the middle of the town. At first, no one cares about it, everyone cries against it. But soon enough, the idea of a new life, of having some fast cash starts sinking into their minds: Why should I care about this territory? At night, some of the opposing people, start making a watch around the "magic" seed. Soon enough, three or four confabulate to take it and split the money, the rest is history.

I've seen racism in my country, not only racism but clasism too. I've also seen, the worst kind of mass racism against women's rights in many states of our country: femicides. So, to all the people judging the US or Britain for that matter, take a step back and look into their own backyard, look for signs of dogs chasing cats, try to detect words where supremacy, tolerance and isms are tossed around in a big bowl of ideas. And finally, one last personal question to your own consciousness: Are the expectations that you have from the people around you something that creates frustration? If so, then go and water THAT plant immediately, take all those weeds off of it. Different is not from another race or planet, is different from us, the real "Ikoots" of every nation.