HUICHOL INDIANS IN MEXICO

HICHOL INDIANS IN MEXICO ARE INDIGENOUS TO WEST CENTRAL MEXICO AND LIVE IN SIERRA MADRE OCCIDENTAL ALL RANGE NEAR JALISCO. IN THEIR LANGUAGE THEY CALL THEMSELVES 'WIXARITARI'. THEY ORIGINATED SAN LOUIS POTASI AND MIGRATED WEST TO NAYARIT. ANNUALLY THEY JOURNEYED BACK TO SAN LOUISE TO PERFORM THEIR PEYOTE CEREMONIES. ONLY ABOUT 7,000 HICHOL LIVE IN THEIR HOMELAND, WHILE 13,000 HAVE MIGRATED TO OTHER PLACES WITHIN MEXICO.

ACCORDING TO ORAL HISTORY THEIR REGION HAD ANOTHER ETHNIC GROUP,THE TEPECANO. THE HUICHOL MIGRATED FROM SAN LOUIS MIGRATED MIGRATED FROM SAN LUIS POTOSI TO BOLINOS CANYON. CENTRAL TO THEIR RELIGION IS THE GATHERING OF A HALLUCINOGENIC CACTUS FROM POTASI. IT IS LIKE PEYOTE.

IN 1587 ALONSO PONSE WRITINGS DATE FROM THIS YEAR, AND THE TEPEQUE ATTACKED SPANISH SETTLEMENTS. THE SPANISH BROUGHT EPIDEMICS TO THE INDIGENOUS FOLKS. THOSE WHO DID NOT GET ANY DISEASES WERE FORCED BY SPANIARDS TO WORK IN THE MINES AS DOCUMENTED BY ORAL HISTORY.

HUICHOL SPEND SIGNIFICANT TIME WORKING IN TOBACCO, WHICH IS DETRIMENTAL TO HEALTH. OWNERS OF THESE PLANTATIONS NO LONGER USE PESTICIDES ON THEIR CROP. THE INDIANS LIVE IN THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE MAZATLAN AND SELL THEIR CRAFTS TO TOURISTS. IN SUMMER WHEN THE RAINS COME THEY LIVE ON THEIR RANCHOS IN HAMLETS AND MAKE CHEESE FROM THEIR MILK. THEIR DIET IS PRIMARILY TORTILLAS, BLUE, RED, YELLOW OR WHITE CORN, BEANS AND RICE AND PASTA AND AN OCCASIONAL CHICKEN. THEY GATHER WILD FRUITS, VEGETABLES, OF THE REGION SUCH AS LEGUMES WERE GATHERED FROM THE TREES AND PLUMS.

MARRIAGES ARE ARRANGED BY PARENTS WHEN CHILDREN ARE YOUNG. THEY MARRY WHEN THEY ARE 14 OR 17. EXTENDED FAMILIES LIVE TOGETHER. THEIR CRAFTS ARE EMBROIDERY, SOMBREROS, ARCHERY EQUIPMENT, WEAVINGS, EMBROIDERY, AND BEADWORK. FRICTION EXISTS BETWEEN CONVERTS TO CHRISTIANS AND FOLLOWERS OF OLD RELIGION.

THEIR RELIGION HAS FOUR DEITIES - CORN, BLUE DEER, PEYOTE, AND THE EAGLE - ALL FROM THE SUN GOD. ACCORDING TO A MYTH THE SUN CREATED EARTHLY BEINGS WITH HIS SALIVA AND IT APPEARED AS RED FOAM IN THE OCEAN. NEW THINGS ARE BORN FROM HEARTS AND ESSENCES WHICH THE HUICHOL SEE IN THE RED FORM. THEY BELIEVE IN A MAIZE GODDESS, ONE OF MIDWIVES, A MOTHER GIRL, A GOD DEPICTED AS A HEADED EAGLE, AND QUETZALCOATL, A FEATHERED SERPENT.

THE PEYOTE USED IS A PRECOLUMBIAN TRADITION, LIKE MANY INDIGENOUS NATIVE AMERICAN GROUPS. THEY INVOLVE SINGING, WEEPING, AND CONTACTING ANCESTOR SPIRITS. BEFORE COLLECTING PEYOTE, THEY PASS A SACRED SPRING CALLED "WHERE MOTHER LIVES", OR HOUSE OF THE EASTERN RAIN GODDESS!

THEY HAVE A CEREMONY OF SEPARATING THE THE UMBILICAL CORD FROM A NEWBORN BABY AND PLANTING AN AGAVE PLANT THERE. THE HUICHOL KEEP SOULS OF ANCESTORS WHO HAVE RETURNED TO THE WORLD IN THE SHAPE OF ROCK CRYSTALS.

AN IMPORTANT ARTIFACT IS THE NIEIKA, A SMALL SQUARE OR ROUND TABLET WITH A HOLE IN THE CENTER. IT IS COVERED ON ONE OR BOTH SIDES WITH BEESWAX AND FINE RESIN INTO WHICH THREADS OF YARN ARE PRESSED. THEY ARE KEPT IN SHRINES. URBANIZED HUICHOLS HAVE MIGRATED TO CITIES AND DRAW ATTENTION TO THEIR RICH RICH CULTURE THROUGH ART. THE SYMBOLS THEY USE IN THEIR YARN PAINTINGS ARE FROM SHAMANISTIC TRADITIONS. THEY USE PSYCHEDELIC COLORS AND EACH IS RELATED TO A TRADITION . BEADED ART IS RELATIVELY NEW . A WOODEN FORM IS CREATED AND COVERED WITH BEESWAX. BEADS ARE PRESSED INTO FORMS THEY MAKE MASKS, BOWLS, AND FIGURINES. THE HUICHOL REJECT CATHOLIC INFLUENCES OVER THEIR CULTURE.

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