La Malinche
As the legend traveled to Latin America, quite possibly with the help of members of the Catholic church, the legend changed somewhat (Kirtley 1960, 162). In Mexico, the Indian mistress of Cortes, La Malinche, has similar characteristics and through very similar actions suffers the same consequences as La Llorona (Leddy 1950, 365). Malinche was a native woman, who after becoming enamored with Cortes, assisted in the conquest of her people (Saldana 1966, 303).
This representation of La Llorona was presented to the Mexican populace after the conquest in the form of a dramatized dance. The dance called the Matachine dramatizes the victory of the Spanish Christians over the indigineous population (Saldana 1966, 303). The dance reinvents the legend and shows the importance of Christianity for the Spaniards. In the dance, there is a ritualistic battle that is mimed where the Aztec leader Montezuma is on one side while the Christians are on the other (Saldana 1966, 299). This form of dance and the character of La Malinche, is found in certain dances in Mexico as well as the United States among the Pueblo Indians (Saldana 1966, 298).