In Memory

 Maya K'iche Elder Bártolo Alvárez

Beloved Maya K'iche Elder Bártolo Alvárez (Tata Bártolo) has transitioned into the spirit world. We hold his family and loved ones in our thoughts and prayers and wish them comfort during this time of transition.

For countless years, Tata Bártolo has been an integral presence during our celebrations, leading the smudging ceremony, offering his blessings, and officially opening our events. He officially became involved with the Día de los Muertos celebration in 2015, though he had blessed and smudged the space and community of the Collective in a more private capacity before that.

Jesús, like many members of the community who had the privilege of knowing Tata Bártolo and seeing him in action, recalls the elder’s generosity with his time and teachings, as well as the perpetual joy he brought to these tasks. Eager to share knowledge and traditions, Tata Bártolo’s words, charisma, and friendship attracted many people to the Collective’s celebrations and ceremonies, igniting in them the desire to learn and understand more about them. “He was a cornerstone of the why and how of the Día de los Muertos Celebrations and community work  in Toronto,” Jesús says.

As a respected elder of our community, Tata Bártolo contributed to transmitting Indigenous knowledge and traditions as well as providing spiritual guidance and support. Born in Guatemala, he received spiritual training and was assigned the role of an Ajq’ijab (cargador del tiempo) keeper of the Mayan Calendar. In Canada he helped form the Grupo Maya Sacbe, immersed himself in the Aztec Dance Circle, and served as a spiritual guide to many in the diaspora looking to reconnect with their Indigenous roots.

Tata Bártolo has worked with numerous organizations, museums, and communities to share his knowledge and guidance as an Indigenous elder.  Most recently, Tata Bártolo contributed to the exhibition Beyond the Vanishing Maya: Voices of a Land in Resistance, for which he built traditional kites, currently on display at the Textile Museum of Canada until March 28, 2025.

Tata Bártolo practiced Cosmovision, an all-encompassing understanding of the universe and its constitutive parts, and he taught us that death is not an ending but a transition—that although the body rests, the energy lives on, so that our loved ones remain around us forever. It is in the knowledge that he is still with us that we offer our eternal gratitude and receive him as a new ancestor.

We dedicate the 2024 Celebration to our beloved Tata Bártolo, honouring throughout, as well as creating a special ofrenda in his name and memory. The public is also invited to pay their respects to Tata Bártolo at a dedicated altar at the Textile Museum of Canada (55 Centre Avenue, close to St. Patrick subway station) between October 24 and November 22.