After 20 years of promoting her Yucatecan culture, Beatriz Ceballos Poot will receive the 2022 Ohtli award for her work in Canada.
While Mexico celebrates its independence, Ceballos Poot will be honored with the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ highest distinction.
Ceballos Poot first came to Canada after graduating from Conalep in Mérida. Four months later, she decided to emigrate. Today she resides in Gatineau, southeast of French-speaking Québec and on the banks of the Ottawa River.
In Canada, she works teaching Mexican culture and traditions such as traditional dances and holidays like Hanal Pixán, when Maya people remember the dead.
In addition, Ceballos Poot is part of the Aztlán Folkloric Ballet, which is responsible for promoting traditional dances in countries such as Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France, Poland, and Spain.
She recently returned to her native Yucatán to invite local authorities to be present during the Ohtli 2022 award ceremony.
Ohtli recognition is granted to Mexicans, Latinos, or their descendants born abroad, who dedicate their time to benefit the Mexican community in any field of human endeavor.
The Ohtli is a recognition delivered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Institute for Mexicans Abroad. It consists of a silver medal, a silver rosette, and a diploma that the IME delivers through the Representations of Mexico Abroad. The ceremony is on Sept. 15.
In Canada, after English and French, Spanish is the most widely used language due to the large presence of migrants who have come to this region from Latin America.
