Aztec Dancer in Feathered Headdress on Lake Street

Aztec dance traditions, known as danza azteca or mexica, trace back to pre-Hispanic ceremonial practice and remain active today among Indigenous and Chicano communities across North America. The feathered headdress worn here, called a penacho, is typically built from pheasant or macaw feathers and signals rank or role within a dance troupe. The clay vessel held in this image is used to burn copal, a resin incense central to purification rites performed before and during ceremonial dances. Face coverings were required at outdoor public gatherings in 2020, the year this march took place along Lake Street in Minneapolis.

Taken November 2020