Our Lady of Guadalupe may be synonymous with Catholicism, but the Aztecs also revered her under the name Tonantzin.
In that spirit, an Aztec dancing group from Santa Rosa performed a four-hour pilgrimage on 24th Street from Mission to Potrero, stopping and dancing at every image of Our Lady of Guadalupe they could find.
The group made more than 10 stops, including one at Casa Sanchez, in honor of the recently deceased matriarch of 24th Street, Martha Sanchez.
The tradition spans 15 years, though the Coyolxauhqui dance group has been doing it intermittently for the past 10 years. The pilgrimage is usually held the weekend before December 12 — a Catholic holiday honoring the virgin.
Louis Gutierrez, the group’s director and also part of the family that owns La Reyna Bakery on 24th Street, said the group wants to keep Aztec dancing traditions alive.
“We do it because we want to, but we also do it because we are sent here to do it,” he said.
The last stop was at Vermont and 24th streets, where a statue once stood. It was stolen about eight years ago, but the group continues to use the spot as a rest stop for their pilgrimage.