The festival of the Tastoanes commemorates the Battle of Tonala, an Indian revolt that ocurred after the Spanish conquered & occupied the old kingdom Tonaltecas. The present day suburb of Guadalajara named Tonala. The Indian queen, Cihualpilli had received the Spanish with open arms & willingly converted to Catholicism, but a group of Indians less enamored with the European invaders & their religion had other ideas. They banded together with members of other conquered tribes & rebelled. A fierce & bloody battle ensued, with many casualties on both sides. Eventually, the Spanish horsemen were victorious. As the legend goes, when the native rebellion was put down, the survivors were turned into grotesque monsters~~Tastoanes. Much of the allegory of the festival echoes the religious significance of this legend... One of the principal Tastoan characters is Barrabas & St. James (Santiago) is the patron saint of the event, as he is considered to the patron saint of the Spanish Conquest. Santiago is mounted on a white horse fighting against the masked Tastoanes. The martyred Saint dies, is resurrected, wins the battle & converts the defeated Tastoanes to Christianity!
This mask was worn by a dancer during the ritual fight July 25th 2010. It is said to have been "jugada" or "played". Until very recently, most of the dancers, who make the masks themselves, would soak them in water & strip them back down to the plain leather base after the festival, thus allowing the spirit of the Tastoan to be released. This accounts for the rarity of this particular mask. The base is of leather, the figures in relief are ceramic, the wig is horsetail, the teeth from several coyotes~
