Tortugas Pueblo's annual pilgrimage, festival open to the public again

LAS CRUCES – Members of the public are once again welcome to participate in Tortugas Pueblo’s annual Festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe this December.

Festivities will be held Dec. 10-12, including the pilgrimage up Tortugas “A” Mountain on Sunday, Dec. 11. Thousands of people have historically participated in the walk up the mountain and Catholic mass celebrated at the top by the bishop of the Diocese of Las Cruces.

Bill Acosta, president of the Corporación de Los Indigenes de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, said the corporation’s Capitán de Guerra announced that the festival will return to normal this year following two years of private celebrations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the corporation were hit particularly hard by the virus and quite a few members passed.

Acosta explained that celebrations begin Dec. 10 with the procession of the image of La Virgen de Guadalupe out of the church and to the Casa del Pueblo, 3620 Casa De Pueblo St., where she will remain for the next few days. Celebrants will perform a velorio, similar to a rosary, and keep vigil all night.

The pilgrimage up Tortugas Mountain will take place Dec. 11. People can meet at the pueblo and process from there or join in along the way. Typically, mass is held around 11 a.m. at the top of the mountain. Acosta said the bishop is not yet confirmed to lead mass.

People from all over have joined the pilgrimage in the past, often sacrificing personal comfort by climbing without shoes or carrying heavy loads.

The following day, Pueblo members and several matachines groups will dance at Casa del Pueblo. Everyone is invited to lunch around midday and then dancing will continue. By the end of the day, the new mayordomos will take over from the outgoing, and the image of the virgen will be processed back to the church.

Acosta said all are welcome to participate in the events at any time, but people are asked to be respectful of the religious practices.

“It's nice to be able to be fully back open and be able to welcome the public to join us in our sacred religion, so they can better understand us or get to know us and our culture and partake in it, so they can appreciate the little blessing we have in Las Cruces,” Acosta said.

The December festival is the corporation’s largest celebration of the year. He added that there are people who have lived in the Las Cruces area most of their lives and have never heard of the December celebrations. Attending even a few portions of the three-day ceremony can give people insight into the practices of the indigenous corporation.

More information about this event will be provided as the dates get closer.

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Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, LRomero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Tortugas Pueblo's Festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe open to the public again