(San Pedro Huamelula) Between cheers, dances and a kiss symbol of good wishes, the mayor of a city in southern Mexico married a female caiman on Friday, a traditional rite to ask for prosperity and abundance for his fellow citizens.
Víctor Hugo Sosa, mayor of San Pedro Huamelula, a Chontal indigenous community in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (southern Oaxaca state), declared his love to the reptile bride, named Alicia Adriana, who plays the role of “the little princess” in this ancient celebration.
“I accept this responsibility because we love each other: that’s what’s important, there can be no marriage if we don’t love each other. We love each other and I agree to marry the princess,” the mayor solemnly declared.
The union between a male and a female caiman has been celebrated in this city for more than 230 years, to commemorate the day when two ethnic groups of the region, the Huaves and the Chontales, united through marriage.
According to tradition, the disputes between two towns ended with the marriage of King Chontal, now represented by the mayor, and the Huave princess, of San Mateo del Mar, embodied by the reptile.
The union makes it possible to “connect with Mother Earth. To ask for rains, germination of seeds, all those things that are peace, the harmony of the chontal man”, explains Jaime Zárate, chronicler of San Pedro Huamelula.
Before the wedding, Alicia Adriana is taken from house to house, wearing a green skirt, a black huipil and a headdress made of colored ribbons and sequins, for the locals to dance with her. Its mouth well attached, to avoid problems.
Then dressed in a white wedding dress with silver trimmings, she drove to the town hall to marry the city councilor.
Joel Vásquez, a fisherman from the community, casts his net and says his faith that marriage promotes “good fishing, prosperity, the means to live in peace and good balances”.
After the wedding, the mayor dances with his wife to the rhythm of the city’s traditional music.
“Today’s wedding makes us very happy, because we are celebrating the union of two cultures. The population is happy, ”assured Mr. Sosa to AFP.
The dance ends with a kiss which seals the union between the king and the princess.