Dance Costume Pants Item Number: 2792/2 b from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Pants that are part of a costume with shirt (2792/2 a) and mask (2792/1). The heavy dark brown wool pants have large belt loops, a 4-button fly, and panels down each side that are decorated with sequins and cording of gold, red, and blue outlining fabric flowers and stems. The leg cuffs are lined on the inside with pink fabric.

History Of Use

Part of a dance costume for "Baile de la Conquista"; used in the Dance of the Conquest, in Guatemala. In the Dance, King K'iche learns from Motecuhzoma that his empire is about to be destroyed by foreigners wielding magical weapons. His sons recommend resistance and go to Quetzaltenango to warn Tecum. King K'iche tells Tecum and the other chiefs that he has dreamed Motecuhzoma has been murdered and the same fate awaits him. Tecum promises to defeat the enemy. Ambassadors meet but Tecum rejects the Spaniards demand that his Indigenous followers be baptized. Next, Tecum narrates a dream where, in battle, he turns into an eagle and attacked the Spanish three times until he fell and his heart was split in two; he saw a dove leading the triumphant Spanish army. The real battles begins and Tecum is killed by Alvarado. Tecum's successor, Zunum, stops the battle and has Tecum buried in the mountain, while King K'iche declares he has had a dream in which the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, has convinced him to be baptized.