Protagonist in Upright Drum In Water is the age-old Montezuma cypress or ahuehuete* (Taxodium mucronatum) 'El Sargento' in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, which is believed to be planted around the year 1460, in pre-colonial times. To many native people of Mexico this species is sacred, and associated with authority. In 1910 it became the country’s national tree. But due to heavy drought and pollution it is considered dead since 1969.