The Huichol are an indigenous ethnic group of Western Central Mexico that live in the Sierra Madre Occidental, in the states of Nayarit and Jalisco. Due to longtime deliberate isolation and resistance to evangelism they have retained much of their original culture. They call themselves "Wixáritari" or "the people" in their native Huichol language they call "Wixárika". Jalisco is one of the states of the United Mexican States (Mexico). ... Zacatecas is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. ... Nayarit is one of Mexico’s 31 states and is located on the central west coast, bordering the Pacific Ocean. ... Huichol yarn painting The Huichol are an indigenous ethnic group of Western Central Mexico that live in the Sierra Madre Occidental. ... The term Animism is derived from the Latin anima, meaning soul.[1][2] In its most general sense, animism is simply the belief in souls. ... approximation of the extension of the Cora habitat The Cora are an indigenous ethnic group of Western Central Mexico that live in the Sierra de Nayarit and in La Mesa de Nayar in the mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit. ... The Tepehuán (Tepehuanes or Tepehuanos) are an indigenous ethnic group in northwest Mexico, whose villages at the time of Spanish conquest spanned a large territory along the Sierra Madre Occidental from Chihuahua and Durango in the north to Jalisco in the south. ... This picture shows an aerial view of the Sierra Madre Occidental crossing the territory of Durango, western Mexico The Sierra Madre Occidental is a mountain range in western Mexico and the extreme southwest of the United States, extending 1500 km from southeast Arizona (south and east of Tucson) southeast through... Nayarit is one of Mexico’s 31 states and is located on the central west coast, bordering the Pacific Ocean. ... Jalisco is one of the states of the United Mexican States (Mexico). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Huichol yarn painting The Huichol are an indigenous ethnic group of Western Central Mexico that live in the Sierra Madre Occidental. ...

Location

Location of the Huichols in western mexico

The Huichol claim that they originated in the State of San Luis Potosi but later migrated westward to the parts of Durango, Jalisco, Zacatecas and Nayarit in which the rugged Sierra of the Huichol is found. Once yearly, some Huichol journey back to San Luís, their ancestral homeland to perform "Mitote" Peyote ceremonies. The three main Huichol communities belong to the municipality of Mezquitic, Jalisco and are called San Sebastián Teponohuastlan (Wautüa in Huichol), Santa María Cuexcomatitlán (Tuapuri in Huichol) and San Andrés Cohamiata (Tatei Kié in Huichol). Other Huichol communities include Guadalupe Ocotán (in Nayarit), and Santa Catarina and Tuxpán de Bolaños in Jalisco. However only around 7,000 Wixáritari live in their homeland while some 13,000 have migrated to other places within Mexico, and other still live in Cora communities in the Mesa del Nayar. ^[1]. Image File history File links Huichol. ... Image File history File links Huichol. ... San Luis Potosí is the name of a city and a state in Mexico. ... Durango (IPA pronunciation ) is one of the constituent states of Mexico. ... Jalisco is one of the states of the United Mexican States (Mexico). ... Zacatecas is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. ... Nayarit is one of Mexico’s 31 states and is located on the central west coast, bordering the Pacific Ocean. ... San Luis, the Spanish name for Saint Louis, is a common toponym in parts of the world where that language is or was spoken. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Mezquitic is a municipality in the north of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. ... Jalisco is one of the states of the United Mexican States (Mexico). ... San Andrés Cohamiata is an autonomously governed Wixárika (Huichol) village located in Mezquitic, Jalisco, Mexico. ... Nayarit is one of Mexico’s 31 states and is located on the central west coast, bordering the Pacific Ocean. ... Photo of Tuxpán de Bolaños Communal Presidency building Tuxpán de Bolaños is an autonomously governed Wixárika (Huichol) village located in Bolaños, Jalisco, Mexico. ... approximation of the extension of the Cora habitat The Cora are an indigenous ethnic group of Western Central Mexico that live in the Sierra de Nayarit and in La Mesa de Nayar in the mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit. ...

Religion

Their religion consists of four principal deities, the trinity of Corn, Blue Deer and Peyote, and the eagle, all descended from their Sun God, "Tao Jreeku". Most Huichols retain the traditional beliefs and are resistant to change. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Yarn Paintings

The sacred trinity can be seen this Huichol yarn painting: green peyote, yellow hairs of corn and Blue Deer, or "trickster angel" who is seen here in his form as the morning star or evening star.

Huichol yarn painting

In traditional Huichol communities, an important ritual artefact is the nieli'ka: a small square or round tablet with a hole in the center covered on one or both sides with a mixture of beeswax and pine resin into which threads of yarn are pressed. Nieli'kas are found in most Huichol sacred places such as house shrines (xiriki), temples, springs and caves. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1923x1957, 3238 KB) This image was originally posted to Flickr as Huichol yarn painting by Rojelio Beuites. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1923x1957, 3238 KB) This image was originally posted to Flickr as Huichol yarn painting by Rojelio Beuites. ... Wikipedia articles with Morning Star, morning star or morningstar in the title include: Morning star (weapon), a spiked mace Morning Star (chief), a Cheyenne leader, also known as Dull Knife The Morning Star, a newspaper published in the U.K. since 1930 The Morning Star (19th century U.S. newspaper... Evening Star may be: Venus as a brilliant Evening Star as seen near the cresent moon The planet Venus BR 92220 Evening Star, a BR standard class 9F locomotive and the last steam locomotive to be built by British Railways. ... Image File history File links Huichol-Fadenbild. ... Image File history File links Huichol-Fadenbild. ...

In the past thirty years, about four thousand Huichols have migrated to cities, primarily Tepic, Nayarit, Guadalajara and Mexico City. It is these urbanized Huichols who have drawn attention to their rich culture through their art. To preserve their ancient beliefs they have begun making detailed and elaborate yarn paintings, a development and modernization of the nieli'ka. Tepic is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Nayarit. ... Coordinates: , Country Mexico State Jalisco Foundation 1542 Government  - Mayor Alfonso Petersen Farah ( PAN) Area  - City 187. ... Nickname: Motto: Ciudad en movimiento Location of Mexico City in central Mexico Coordinates: , Country Mexico Federal entity Federal District Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded c. ...

For the Huichol however, yarn painting is not only an aesthetic or commercial artform. The symbols in these paintings are sprung out of Huichol culture and its shamanistic traditions. From the small beaded eggs and jaguar heads to the modern detailed yarn paintings in psychedelic colours, each is related to a part of Huichol tradition and belief. A shaman doctor of Kyzyl. ...

The first large yarn paintings were exhibited in Guadalajara in 1962 which were simple and traditional. At present with the availability of a larger spectrum of commercial dyed and synthetic yarn, more finely spun yarn paintings have evolved into high quality works of art.

Some Huichol shaman-artists have acquired some fame and commercial success: the acclaimed Huichol yarn painter José Benítez Sánchez has had an exposition of his works in the USA.

Lifestyle

Photo of Wixárika woman and child in Tuxpan de Bolaños

The Huichol are dirt farmers, using digging sticks to glean a living from land that is desert for half the year and jungle the other half. Often they must spend time working in tobacco fields, which has been ruinous to their health. Owners of these large plantations are no longer allowed to use First World pesticides too toxic to use in the countries where they are manufactured. Fortunately, the Huichol live in the mountains above Mazatlán and other coastal tourist meccas, and are able to sell their crafts. (They are also protected by their many anthropologists, as they once were by friars.) In summer, when the rains come, they live on their ranchos (farms) in tiny rancherias (hamlets) and make cheese from the milk from their cattle, which they slaughter and eat usually only during fiestas. For the most part, their diet consists of tortillas, made from the Blue, Red, Yellow or White "Sacred corn," beans, rice and pasta, with the occasional chicken or pig, from which they make "Chicharrones," chili peppers, all supplemented with goods provided by nature, like "weizz," a legume gathered from trees, or "ciruelas" wild plums and guayabas (guavas). Image File history File linksMetadata WixarikaMito. ... Image File history File linksMetadata WixarikaMito. ... In archaeology and anthropology a digging stick is the term given to a variety of wooden implements used primarily by subsistence-based cultures to dig out underground food such as roots and tubers or burrowing animals and anthills. ... Shredded tobacco leaf for pipe smoking Tobacco can also be pressed into plugs and sliced into flakes Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in genus Nicotiana. ... the plane is spreading pesticide. ... See Anthropology. ... A friar is a member of a religious mendicant order of men. ... Fiesta can mean: A festival , party, or pasta. ...

Marriages are arranged by the parents when the children are very young. Huichol usually marry between the ages of fourteen and seventeen. Extended Huichol families live together in rancho settlements. These small communities consist of individual houses which belong to a nuclear family. Each settlement has a communal kitchen and the family shrine, called a xiriki, which is dedicated to the ancestors of the rancho. The buildings surround a central patio. The individual houses are traditionally built of stone or adobe with grass-thatched roofs.

A district of related ranchos is known as a temple district. Temple districts are all members of a larger community district. Each community district is ruled by a council of kawiterutsixi, elder men who are usually also shamans.

The craftsmanship of the Huichol includes embroidery, beadwork, sombreros (hats), archery equipment, prayer arrows, and weaving, as well as "cuchuries", woven or embroidered bags. Gold Embroidery Cross-stitch embroidery, Hungary, mid-20th century Phulkari from Punjab region, India 15th century embroidered cope, Ghent, Belgium Elizabethan embroidery styles include blackwork on linen and dense patterns worked in colored silk and metallic threads on velvet or other rich fabrics Embroidery is the art or handicraft of... It has been suggested that Primitive Archery be merged into this article or section. ...

The Huichol seek autonomy in their land, but have two governments, one native to the Huichol and one answering to the Mexican Government through "Municipal Agents" in the larger settlements. The government has established schools without much success in the Huichol Zone during the last 40 years, both church and state. A private Junior High School has led to some friction between "Town" and "Gown" among members of the tribe. Friction also exists between converts to Christianity, the scorned "aleluias," and followers of the old religion, which means the evangelicals and their missions are barely tolerated. Evangelicalism, in a strictly lexical, but rarely used sense, refers to all things that are implied in belief that Jesus is the savior. ... A mission literally means something that is sent, from the Latin word missum, sent. Thus we may refer to space exploration expeditions as space missions, or to a diplomatic outpost in a foreign territory as a diplomatic mission. Christian missions are movements or outposts of Christian proselytism. ...

With the building of roads in the Huichol Zone in the last ten years, new influences are impacting the social fabric of the Huichol. Where mules, horses and burros used to be the main forms of transport, trucks are becoming more prominent, importing food, medicines and beer.

History

The Huichol and the surrounding Chichimecan tribes, such as the Cora, Tepehuán, Pame and Chichimeca Jonaz all partook in the mixtón rebellion against the Conquistador forces of Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán. They were not definitively conquered until the late 1600s. The Cora people held out a little longer until 1722. But even after their "conquest" the Huichol and Cora held on to traditional customs although bending them to fit their new political situation. To a wide extent they kept their indigenous political structure based on the ceremonial centers tukipa led by leaders called kawiterutsixi "those who know all". They still hold on to this structure to this day and the Tukipa correspond to the three major Huichol settlements. The Chichimeca are a group of nomads in northern Mexico. ... The term cora could refer to: The Greek goddess Persephone (Roman Proserpina), also known as Cora The Mandinka string instrument kora, spelt cora in French A French rocket, Cora (rocket) A French-owned hypermarket company operating internationally, Cora (hypermarket) The American cellist Tom Cora A Mexican tribe. ... The Tepehuán (Tepehuanes or Tepehuanos) are an indigenous ethnic group in northwest Mexico, whose villages at the time of Spanish conquest spanned a large territory along the Sierra Madre Occidental from Chihuahua and Durango in the north to Jalisco in the south. ... The Pames are an indigenous people of central Mexico living in the state of San Luis Potosí. They call themselves Xiúi. ... The Chichimeca Jonaz are a group of indigenous Mexicans living in Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí. In Guanajuato State the Chichimeca Jonaz people live in a community of San Luis de la Paz municipality. ... After the conquest of Mesoamerica, the Spaniards sent various expeditions to explore La Gran Chichimeca. ... Nuño Guzmán de Beltrán or Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán (15th century-1550) was a Spanish conquistador and dictator in colonial Mexico. ... approximation of the extension of the Cora habitat The Cora are an indigenous ethnic group of Western Central Mexico that live in the Sierra de Nayarit and in La Mesa de Nayar in the mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit. ... // Events Abraham De Moivre states De Moivres theorem connecting trigonometric functions and complex numbers Publication of the first book of Bachs Well-Tempered Clavier Fall of Persias Safavid dynasty during a bloody revolt of the Afghani people. ...

Language

The Huichol language, Wixarika, is an Uto-Aztecan language (Corachol branch) related to Cora. Huichol yarn painting The Huichol are an indigenous ethnic group of Western Central Mexico that live in the Sierra Madre Occidental. ... Pre-contact distribution of Uto-Aztecan languages (note: this map does not show the distribution in Mesoamerica) The Uto-Aztecan (or Uto-Aztekan) languages are a Native American language family. ... approximation of the extension of the Cora habitat The Cora are an indigenous ethnic group of Western Central Mexico that live in the Sierra de Nayarit and in La Mesa de Nayar in the mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit. ...

Notes

Links

• The Dance of the Deer Foundation is dedicated to supporting the survival of the Huichol people, their ancient traditions and cultural lifestyle.

• Brant secunda - Huichol Shaman, healer and ceremonial leader.

• The Wixarika online portal in Spanish (Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas)

• Site with Information on Huichol Culture by Juan Negrin

• Couvade and Childbirth in Huichol Culture

• Ethnologue: Huichol

• Moving Medicine

References

• Schaeffer, Stacy B. and Furst, Peter T., Editors. (1996). People of the Peyote: Huichol Indian History, Religion, & Survival. Big book of articles on every imaginable topic regarding these well-studied people.

• Miller, Wick. (1983). Uto-Aztecan languages. In W. C. Sturtevant (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 10, pp. 113-124). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution.