"The drums started just after 10 a.m. Saturday, and suddenly there was nowhere to stand but in the middle of it-100 dancers in feathered headdresses and traditional regalia, their ayoyotes rattling with every step like rain on metal. The sound hit the chest hard. Smoke from sage and copal filled South Van Ness Avenue, the sharp smell of incense thick in the cold morning air."
"Outside Mixcoatl-right where Ricardo used to set up his sandwich board with lucha libre masks every morning-tables held free food for anyone who showed up. Burritos de jamón and turkey. Chocoflan and gelatina. Coffee, tea, and atole steaming in the 50-degree morning. In the middle of South Van Ness, an altar held Ricardo's photos surrounded by flowers, candles, and a Huehuetl semi-circle."
Drums and Aztec dancers filled South Van Ness Avenue after 10 a.m., with about 100 participants in feathered headdresses and rattling ayoyotes. Sage and copal smoke saturated the cold morning air while ceremonial sound reverberated through the street. A Zoox self-driving car turned around when its sensors could not process the ceremony. Hundreds gathered outside Mixcoatl to honor Ricardo "El Tigre" Peña, 54, who taught Aztec dance and traditional drumming, ran a Mexican craft shop, and greeted neighbors in multiple languages for over 30 years. An altar, free food, and matchbox mementos were shared across generations.
Read at Mission Local
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