Kautantowit's Mecautea's
Spiritual Wisdom Discussions
Greetings everyone, and welcome to our round-table discussion today, My name is Sachem 'Hawkeye' Graves, and I would like to thank you on behalf of ONAC Kautantowit's Mecautea for joining together with us as we honor Cinco de Mayo!
Many people outside the direct cultural history of Mexico mistakenly believe that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican independence, but it's not true as Mexico had declared their Independence more than 50 years before the Battle of Puebla... Cinco de Mayo is the celebration Of the battle of Puebla.
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What Cinco de Mayo symbolizes is more of a day of celebraing Mexican heritage and strength that embodies the early Latino community's rejection of slavery and racial inequality, and its effusive love of freedom and protecting what democracy existed at the time.
In the decades before the Civil War, droves of Mexicans (and Central and South Americans) made their way to California when it was still part of Mexico, during the gold and silver rushes. As a native Californian myself, I feel it important to emphasize that back in this time, California, as we know it today, along with Texas, and so forth in the Southwest, was in fact declared Mexico territory. This is back when Alaska was officially declared Russia. Immediately below, you will see a map showing the "territories" of today's "United States of America" in 1830:
Back during this time, Puebla was one of the most important Spanish colonial cities in Mexico and the French Army were considered to be the most powerful fighting force in the world. Cinco de Mayo celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War, which was from 1861 thru to May 5th, 1867, despite their being outnumbered, under-supplied.
On May 5, 1862 General Charles Latrille de Lorencez of the French Army, with 6,000 French troops set out to attack
Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east-central Mexico. The French initiated the war with Mexico on the pretext of collecting debt, planned to use Mexico as a "base" from which they could help the Confederacy defeat the North, and the Mexican victory at Puebla, roughly 80 miles southeast of Mexico City, engaged with the French long enough for the Union army to grow stronger and gain momentum.
5,000 French soldiers were killed that day while fewer than 100 Mexicans were killed in the battle.
Had the French won at Puebla, some contend the outcome of the American Civil War could have been much different, as the French and Confederates together could have taken control of the continent from the Mason Dixon line to Guatemala, installing an oligarchical, slave-holding government. The victory resulted in a decree by then-Mexican President Benito Juárez that a celebration of the battle be held each year on May 5th, the destruction of the American south during the Civil War.
Nearly all Mexicans are mixed, or mestizo – a mix of indigenous and European ancestry.
Though overall, Cinco de Mayo is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, with the exception of the Mexican states of Puebla and Veracruz of coarse which celebrate Cinco de Mayo annually a commemoration of Mexican pride and unity and whom see Cinco de Mayo as a day celebrating victory to their ancestors fight against slavery. In essence, it's very similar to how Irish-Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day in the United States, a way they honor the ethnic heritage and glory of their ancestors, and knowing they're our relations, we as Kautantowit's Mecautea humbly show respect to this day for the same reasons as well.
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In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a commemoration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large "Mexican-American" populations... some of the largest festivals notably held are in Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. Cinco de Mayo is also the birthday of forgotten historical figure Pío de Jesús Pico, who was born on May 5th of 1801. Pico was civil governor at Los Angeles in 1832 and made the city the capital of the province until after reluctantly accepting the loss of California to the USA. I remember as a kid growing up in "Santa Ana" southern California, Cinco de Mayo was a festive time that went on for about 5 days though the 5th was the primary celebration day... we kids got to bust pinata's and all kinds of cool fun stuff... I Loved it!
Traditions celebrated for Cinco de Mayo include military parades, such as the recreation of the Battle of Puebla along with other festive parades, parties, mariachi music, Mexican folk dancing and all Kinds of Amazing traditional foods such as tacos, burritos, enchiladas, tostada's and my personal favorite... tamales... all authentically home-made, then of coarse your sides including a variety of various beans and rices, tortilla chips and salsas, mole poblano, and of coarse plenty of beer and tequila for the adults and snacks, sodas and treats for the kids!