Organized by the Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers and Dance Mission Theater, 'Sacred Waters' took place on the 18th Street/Mission Creek Corridor in San Francisco, also known as the American Indian Cultural District.
[Photos by Abraham Fuentes]
It wasn’t always called the Mission Dolores. Before the Spanish invasion in 1769, the area we know today as San Francisco was home to the Yelamu people of the Ramaytush Ohlone. Creeks and lagoons dotted the landscape back then. But with the Mission System came forced religious conversions, and with that came genocide of the original people’s of this land. As settlements grew, those waterways were desecrated and buried beneath the concrete we see all around us today. But on Oct. 1, we were reminded of what was here before. “Sii agua sí,” a Latinx and Indigenous festival organized by the Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers and Dance Mission Theater, took place on the 18th Street/Mission Creek Corridor, also known as the American Indian Cultural District. The prayers, songs, speeches, waterway processions and dances that took place were all to honor those lost waterways, and memorialize the 5,700 Indigenous ancestors buried in the Mission Dolores cemetery.
Attendees of Sii Agua Si do a salmon run from Dolores St. to Church St. where many painted small salmon signs.
One of the attendees dances to the music as DJ Ras K’dee plays in the background on 18th St.
Gina Pacaldo, the MC for Sii Agua Si, is maintaining the sage smoking as the event continues into the night.
Aimee Zawitz dances to music at Sii Agua Si as DJ Ras K’dee plays in the background on 18th St.
Aldo Ruiz attends Sii Agua Si at Dolores Park.
Portrait of Aldo Ruiz at Dolores Park.
Carmen Roman, Director of Cunamacué, sets up the stage at Sii Agua si before they start their Afro-peruvian dance set.
Pierr Padilla plays the cajon at Sii Agua Si, as part of Cunamacué set featuring Afro-peruvian dance.
Pierr Padilla plays the cajon at Sii Agua Si, as part of Cunamacué set featuring Afro-peruvian dance.
Carmen Roman, Director of Cunamacué, dances on stage at Sii Agua Si as Pierr Padilla and Kayla Danish play in the backdrop in their Afro-peruvian dance on 18th St. Oct. 1
Carmen Roman (right) and Pierr Padilla (left), part of Cunamacué, dance on stage at Sii Agua Si as Kayla Danish (middle) plays their violin.
Sage burns at Sii Agua Si as Cunamacué dances in the background.
Carmen Roman (right) and Pierr Padilla (left), part of Cunamacué, dance on stage at Sii Agua Si as Kayla Danish (middle) plays their violin..
Juliana Mendonca, teacher at Liquidanza, dances on stage at Sii Agua Si in a water based dance.
Juliana Mendonca, teacher at Liquidanza, dances on stage at Sii Agua Si in a water based dance.
Juliana Mendonca, teacher at Liquidanza, dances on stage at Sii Agua Si in a water based dance.
