Huichol Culture

This paper takes a look at the "Peyote Crisis" from a new angle. The peyote plant is at a complex intersection between environmental and cultural interests. With its numbers dwindling in the wild, there are still thousands of Native Americans in the United States, Mexico and Canada depending on it for religious purposes. The paper examines the current legal, environmental and religious conditions surrounding peyote, and proposes possible solutions to alleviate the crisis based on the most recent research.

Mara’akame Paritema (Don Santos) (17th July, 2013) - Huichol cosmology: A mara'akame shares Wirraritari cosmovision and mythology. The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness Salon, The Institute of Ecotechnics, October Gallery, Bloomsbury, London. (Host and compère)

The origins of the Wirraritari or Huichol people are uncertain: are they an Aztec tribe or were they independent of the pre-Hispanic Aztec empire? In any case it is know that they resisted the Spanish throughout the conquest of Mexico and still remain independent. The Wirraritari cosmovision is full of myths, gods, and legends, and this cosmovision is embodied and experienced directly during the practice of their many ceremonies, which take place throughout the year. In Wirraritari society the Mara’akames are medicine-men and leaders. There are different types of Mara’akame; those who simply sing and communicate with the spirits, those who do treatments with energy, extracting disease and materialising it as it is sucked out by the mouth, and those who sing and heal as Mara’akame Santos does. Mara’akame Santos is going to share some of the Wirraritari myths of Creation, the origins of the people and their cosmovision. He will also share a sacred ceremonial song.

In this essay, I investigate the past of a group of people called Guachichiles, who suffered a demographic and cultural collapse, specifically from the so-called Chichimeca War. This work brings together some key evidence to analyze the knowledge these northern indigenous groups had regarding certain coloring materials and their uses, specifically for body and rock painting. Which dyes and pigments existed in this area at this time? Which uses did the Guachichil give to these materials? It is important to mention that, as far as I have been able to track down, the body colors used by the Guachichil has not been specifically studied since there are barely any references to them in written and visual sources. Nevertheless, in the present essay, texts and images have been thoroughly analyzed, which has made it possible to gather information fragments on this topic, gradually putting together a puzzle that is turning up incomplete and unfinished, just as those restorations of pottery and mural painting undertaken by archeologists and conservators. The ethnographic fieldwork is crucial to this research and brings to close the first part of Colors on the Skin, which offers a scientific overview of body color in Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica.

Over the last decades, the Wixaritari of Western Mexico have been protagonists of several high-profile ecological conflicts. Here I focus on the relationships between Wixaritari and non-indigenous activists. As an "expert" involved in many of these ecological conflicts, I observed that the Multinaturalist Wixaritari understood the activists much better than the activists understood them. On the other hand, I insist that ecologists could benefit from a better understanding of how Wixárika ecology and cosmopolitics work. For the Wixaritari, any political practice begins with the defense of autonomy and indigenous rights. They do not try to "save" the planet, but to build and rebuild it. Doing so, they strive to improve their community organization, and to defend the conditions necessary for continually inventing and creating the world. Frequently, political conflicts arise over "sacred places" who are ancestors and part of the communities even when they do not look like humans, and are located in areas far away from the Wixárika villages. On the other hand, Wixárika sacred geography is not a given, but is envisioned by initiates. In this way, Wixaritari defend the right to permanently reinvent their own ritual system, even when they know that they may be accused of "making up sacred places".

Se dice que el alma de un pueblo se refleja en su música. Con esta base,
Rodrigo de la Mora presenta los resultados de una profunda investigación de campo en la que observó, registró y analizó, desde una
perspectiva antropológica, las manifestaciones musicales de los
wixáritaari, para acreditar el papel que juega la música como factor
significativo en las dinámicas de conformación, reproducción y trasformación del mundo social y cultural de esta comunidad indígena del occidente de México.
Esta obra está dividida en tres partes. La primera se enfoca a la
exposición del contexto de estudio y los conceptos teóricos empleados;
la segunda, a la descripción de los diferentes géneros musicales
wixáritaari y los contextos en los que tienen lugar, y la tercera, al análisis
de casos y regiones en los que se interrelacionan la música, el espacio y
diferentes formas de relación social.
Así, este libro ofrece un recorrido que va desde la cultura, en tanto
territorio, mitología y rituales, del pueblo wixárika hasta su expresión e
impacto a través de la música en diferentes contextos y espacios físicos, lo que lo convierte en contenido de gran utilidad para los estudiosos de la música y los interesados en la compleja relación entre prácticas sociales, territorios y culturas situadas.

En 1964 se inauguró en Mexico el nuevo Museo Nacional de Antropología.  Se ha señalado frecuentemente, que tanto el edificio como el concepto museológico son expresiones del indigenismo nacionalista del entonces partido de estado PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional). El museo sintetiza el centralismo político del régimen, el neo-evolucionismo de los arqueólogos y la historia mítica azteca-mexica. Mientras que el primer piso celebra las glorias del pasado prehispánico de México, el segundo piso muestra la etnografía de los grupos indígenas que “aún” sobreviven. Se entendía que la tarea de los etnólogos era “rescatar” lo valioso de estas tradiciones antes de que se asimilaran totalmente a la población mestiza mexicana. La historia de las civilizaciones prehispánicas es apropiada por el estado-nación, mientras que la capacidad de agencia de los pueblos indígenas actuales es totalmente negada. Sin embargo, un grupo de huicholes invierte la situación al apropiarse del monolito de la Coatlicue, a la que adoptaron como una de sus diosas ancestrales.

Con el objetivo de hacer comprensible de qué forma los wixaritari actuales ponen en práctica estrategias de creación estética que les permiten responder a las demandas de la realidad contemporánea, en el presente capítulo expondré el caso de El Venado Azul, una de las agrupaciones musicales más representativas de este pueblo indígena, que a lo largo de casi 20 años ha transitado por diversos espacios y contextos: Desde las comunidades wixaritari de la Sierra Madre Occidental hasta pueblos y ciudades de México y el extranjero, además del espacio radiofónico, televisivo e Internet. En función de lo anterior, analizaré el sentido de creación y cambio musical relativo a contextos emergentes, en los que vínculos entre comunidades indígenas y no indígenas se potencian a partir de la migración, la urbanización y el desarrollo de tecnologías de la comunicación.

A partir de los planteamientos de diferentes teóricos que han explorado la emoción desde las Ciencias Sociales (Lutz & White, 1986; Le Breton, 1999, Ramírez-Goicoechea, 2001) y de la noción de marco propuesta por Goffman (2006) para el análisis de la experiencia, en el presente trabajo realizo una aproximación al estudio de las emociones en la vida social de los wixaritari 1 , en particular, a través del análisis de la letra de dos canciones pertenecientes a diferentes géneros musicales, pero que comparten una temática común.

Since before the collective memories of the Huichol can remember, art has been produced for community spiritual use and as gifts to the gods and ancestors.  "Very little has changed in Huichol art and symbolism in the decades since" early anthropologists lived among and studied the Huichol culture.  Ethnologists consider the Huichol to be an extremely "visual" culture, and thus such "beautiful material objects" are embedded within the long history of the tribe.  Artistic renderings of the Huichol illustrate the "magic of a natural environment that is alive and without firm boundaries between the here and now and the ancestral past."  The other-worldliness described in similar tribal cultures is non-existent in the Huichol universe, as "divinity is inherent in nature," not standing apart from it or above it, and thus not "supernatural."

Le nouveau Musée National d’Anthropologie fut inauguré à Mexico en 1964. On a souvent signalé que le bâtiment ainsi que la conception muséologique expriment l’indigénisme nationaliste du parti d’État à l’époque, le PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional). Le musée synthétise le centralisme politique du régime, le néo-évolutionnisme des archéologues et l’histoire mythique aztèque-mexica. Tandis que le premier étage célèbre les gloires du passé préhispanique du Mexique, le second expose l’ethnographie des groupes indigènes qui survivent « encore ». Il était entendu que la tâche des ethnologues était de « sauver » la valeur de ces traditions avant leur assimilation totale à la population métisse mexicaine. L’État-nation s’est approprié l’histoire des civilisations préhispaniques ; la capacité d’action des peuples autochtones actuels se trouve totalement niée. Un groupe de Huichols a cependant inversé la situation en s’appropriant le monolithe de Coatlicue, qu’ils ont adopté comme l’une de leurs déesses ancestrales.

Le rite de l’amarrada des peyoteros, effectué dans le cadre du pèlerinage à Wirikuta des Wixaritari (Huichol) de la région occidentale du Mexique, passe presque inaperçu dans les études spécialisées. Il nous offre pourtant un cas classique de rite de passage ; processus ici limpidement matérialisé par une corde. Deux actions principales sont opérées avec cet instrument rituel : enlacer et mesurer. Elles nous révèlent comment se tissent concrètement des liens entre corps, cosmos et personne. L’engagement dans l’organisation sociale huichol est également mis en lumière par les usages rituels des cordes, permettant de resserrer les liens communautaires. Les gestes opérés avec ces cordes s’avèrent cruciaux, notamment pour connecter ces corps itinérants au monde, selon des coordonnées spatiales et des repères temporels spécifiques. La transformation des corps est donc rendue possible par des procédés rituels concrets faisant usage de cordes, ayant pour effets des mutations du statut social, des modifications de perspectives et des changements d’échelle. Autant d’aspects qui nous renvoient à des questions anthropologiques plus générales concernant la mémoire rituelle du corps en mouvement et une certaine praxis ritualisée des corps.

Entrevista con el profesor Dr. José Luis Iturrioz, especialista en el estudio de lenguas indígenas, autor de "Gramática del huichol "(2001), "Lenguas y literaturas indígenas de Jalisco" (2004), "Gramática de la lengua wijarika" (2006), entre otros; ganador del Premio Jalisco de Humanidades (2007), quien aquí conversa sobre el significado del autónimo 'huichol', la cultura huichola, el mestizaje, los huicholes en internet, las costumbres religiosas huicholas y el interés académico en la cultura y lengua huichola.
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Huamanchumo, Ofelia (2010) "Entrevista con José Luis Iturrioz. Una mirada académica a la cultura huichol", SIETECULEBRAS – Revista Andina de Cultura, Cusco, nr. 28 (julio-set), pp. 22-24.

Archaeology and ethnohistory suggest trade relationships existed between the Indian groups in Texas and Mexico. By focusing on one of the major regional ethnic groups, the Lipan Apache, this paper presents two related and sequenced trade routes between Native and non-Native groups linking Mexico and Texas. The paper discusses how commercial relations were related with the process of acculturation. The author concludes with an interpretative perspective regarding how the study of Native trade patterns can provide a model for understanding the regional social dynamics both in the past and the present.

Este trabajo analiza a un grupo de buscadores espirituales estadounidenses seguidores del chamanismo huichol a raíz de sus seguimientos iniciáticos a varios chamanes o mara’akate. En la actualidad estos neochamanes se posicionan globalmente como continuadores de las tradiciones nativas huicholas. Por esta razón, han sido acusados de extractivismo epistémico. Esta categoría, en un contexto geopolítico de neoliberalismo extractivista, tiene sentido para los voceros nativos que la utilizan. No obstante, sus implicaciones son poco consideradas en la literatura neochamánica. Este artículo busca situar los contextos y procesos históricos de los wixaritari para mostrar cómo la acusación de extractivismo visibiliza un momento histórico diferente y genera una polarización identitaria esencializada que les permite posiciones de ventaja en la lucha en el presente contexto geopolítico de despojo.  

El chamanismo del pueblo huichol y el chamanismo de la Amazon-ía: Un estudio comparativo
Marina Anguiano  P.6

Función, iconografía y ubicación espacial del arte rupestre: el ca-so de La Proveedora en el desierto de Sonora
Julio Amador Bech P.33

Este trabajo analiza a un grupo de buscadores espirituales estadounidenses seguidores del chamanismo huichol  a raíz de sus seguimientos iniciáticos a varios chamanes o mara’akate.  En la actualidad estos neochamanes se posicionan globalmente como continuadores de las tradiciones nativas huicholas. Por esta razón, han sido acusados de extractivismo epistémico. Esta categoría, en un contexto geopolítico de neoliberalismo extractivista, tiene sentido para los voceros nativos que la utilizan. No obstante, sus implicaciones son poco consideradas en la literatura neochamánica. Este artículo busca situar los contextos y procesos históricos de los wixaritari para mostrar cómo la acusación de extractivismo visibiliza un momento histórico diferente y genera una polarización identitaria esencializada que les permite posiciones de ventaja en la lucha en el presente contexto geopolítico de despojo.
Palabras clave: neochamanismo, explotación de saberes, buscadores espirituales.
Abstract:
This paper analyzes a group of spiritual seekers from the United States who are apprentices of the tradition of Huichol shamanism as a result of following-up initiations performed by several shamans or mara’akate. At present, these neo-shamans position themselves as providers of the continuation to native Huichol traditions. For this reason, they have been accused of conducting epistemic extractivism. Within an extractivist neoliberal geopolitical context, this category is meaningful for the native spokespersons using it. Nonetheless, the neo-shamanic literature hardly considers its implications. This paper aims to locate the Wixaritari’s historical contexts and processes in order to demonstrate how the accusation of extractivism makes it possible to envision a different historical moment, polarizing identity in an essentialized way. This favours the Wixaritari in their struggle within the current geopolitical context of dispossession.
Keywords: Neo-shamanism, exploitation of forms of knowledge, spiritual seekers.

Resumen: Desde una perspectiva comparativa, se analizarán figuraciones específicas de entidades cuya morada y espacio de acción es la zona semiárida de San Luis Potosí, donde se sitúa el territorio sagrado de Wirikuta y crece el peyote. Considerado por muchos como un “desierto mágico”, constituye uno de los lugares importantes de peregrinaje en
México. En este contexto, sobresale la figura del venado Tamatsi Kauyumari de los wixaritari (indígenas huicholes), quien manifiesta su presencia de modo multifacético a los diferentes peregrinos y viajeros que recorren este desierto. Bajo estas premisas, reflexionaremos sobre
las relaciones entre poderes de la imagen y poderes de la presencia, efectos de presencia y efectos de persona, en varios contextos rituales y a través de diversos medios de expresión artística.

Palabras clave: presencia, persona, poder, figuración, Tamatsi Kauyumari.

Abstract: From a comparative approach, specific figurations of entities will be analyzed, whose dwelling and action space is the semiarid area of San Luis Potosi, where stands the sacred territory of Wirikuta and peyote grows. Considered by many people as a “magical desert”, it is one of the important places of pilgrimage in Mexico. In this context, the figure of the deer Tamatsi Kauyumari of the Wixaritari (Huichol Indians) stands out, since it
makes its presence felt in a multifaceted way to the various pilgrims and travelers who roam the desert. Under these assumptions, we will reflect on the relationship between power of images and power of the presence, presence effects and person effects, in various ritual contexts and across diverse means of artistic expressions.

Keywords: presence, person, power, figuration, Tamatsi Kauyumari.

Résumé : Selon une approche comparative, on analysera des figurations spécifiques d’entités dont l’habitat et l’espace d’action est la zone semi-aride de San Luis Potosí, où se situe le territoire sacré de Wirikuta et où pousse le peyotl. Considéré par de nombreuses personnes comme un « désert magique », il s’agit d’un haut lieu de pèlerinage au Mexique. Dans ce contexte, la figure du cerf Tamatsi Kauyumari des Wixaritari (Indiens Huichol) se distingue, car elle fait sentir sa présence d’une manière multifacétique aux différents pèlerins et voyageurs qui parcourent cet espace. Selon ces prémisses, on réfléchira sur les liens entre pouvoir des images et pouvoir de la présence, effets de présence et effets de
personne dans plusieurs contextes rituels et à travers divers moyens d’expressions artistiques.

Mots-clés : présence , personne , pouvoir , figuration , Tamatsi Kauyumari.

Over the last decade, several archaeological researchers have re-examined the Lower Pecos rock art with the focus of providing different possible interpretations of the several panels in the region. One of them, the “White Shaman” (41-VV-124), located in Val Verde County in Texas, has been one of the most studied in the area. Some researchers have stated that the panel can be interpreted by referring to Huichol and other Mesoamerican mythologies; these interpretations are based on color symbolism and other apparent parallelisms present in the rock art. This paper introduces a new potential alternative interpretation of some iconographies based on current and in-depth ethnographic fieldwork in Mexico and the United States among different groups of Amerindians. Focused on the potential use of the color black, as well as two related iconographies in specific mythologies, this article demonstrates that detailed ethnographic information can lead researchers to find additional potential connections to the regional rock art and other contemporary Amerindian ethnicities. This research confirms some previous interpretations, and suggests new avenues of approach to the rock art of the Lower Pecos by incorporating new ethnographic information and introducing ethnologic theoretical reflections.

Esta rica y vasta antología nos lleva a recorrer un “camino andado” de “trabajo de campo entre los huicholes”, como bien anuncia el texto introductorio del volumen. La etnóloga Marina Anguiano nos comparte, a lo largo de sus páginas, toda una trayectoria de estudio de la cultura wixarika del Occidente de México en los últimos 50 años. Principalmente, la autora presenta los resultados de sus investigaciones en la comunidad de Tateikie, San Andrés Cohamiata, situada en Jalisco, y en la de Guadalupe Ocotán, del lado serrano de Nayarit. También llevó a cabo indagaciones en asentamientos huicholes urbanos situados en Tepic, como la colonia Zitakua y en otras localidades de municipios aledaños, entre otros, los de El Nayar, la Yesca y Santa María del Oro.

Luke, D. (2015, January). Blue deer prayer: Quests and challenges of the world’s oldest psychedelic tribe. Invited talk for Club Imaginal, Marwoods Café, Brighton, 28th January.

The Wixaritari (Huichol) are a prehispanic shamanic tribe from Mexico who resisted conquest and outside incursion for 500 years and have continued their magical pagan traditions, connection to the land and consumption of the psychedelic peyote cactus for millennia. They are one of the world’s oldest unbroken psychedelic tribes and yet their way of life is currently under threat from foreign mining interests that seek to destroy their sacred lands and their culture with it.

Dr David Luke will talk about the Desert of Wirikuta, the Renovation of the World and Shift of the Times. There will also be an exclusive screening of a new documentary film about the Huichol nation.

Dr David Luke - psychologist, is a lecturer, researcher and writer focusing on anomalous experience and altered states, especially transpersonal psychedelic experiences. He has published over 100 academic texts in his field, including co/editing and co-authoring four recent books. He also co/organises various events such as the Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness Salon, Breaking Convention and Psychic Lysurgery.

Luke, D. (2015, January). Wixaritari: The world’s oldest psychedelic tribe and their fight to save their spiritual ecology. Invited talk and film screening for Cinematters film series, Passing Clouds, Hackney, London, 18th January.

The Wixaritari (Huichol) are a prehispanic shamanic tribe from Mexico who resisted conquest and outside incursion for 500 years and have continued their magical pagan traditions, connection to the land and consumption of the psychedelic peyote cactus for millennia. They are one of the world’s oldest unbroken psychedelic tribes and yet their way of life is currently under threat from foreign mining interests that seek to destroy their sacred lands and their culture with it.

Wixaritari mara’akame (shaman) Paritemai and psychedelic researcher Dr David Luke discuss the Desert of Wirikuta, the Renovation of the World and Shift of the Times. There will also be an exclusive screening of a new documentary film about the Huichol nation.

"The Dieties have talked, and they said that is the time for the human kind to renew the World. Takutzi Nakawe the Goddess that gives life in Earth has told the Ceremonial group to begin with the task, as our ancestors did. First in the 5 cardinal point of the Wixaritari Cosmology, then in the "Fire Belt" of Central Mexico (Volcanoes) and the Pyramids and Ancient Temples which are aligned to the belt, and the Ancient Temples of other Countries of the World. The Deities, our Father Sun, Mother Earth, Grandpa Fire, Ancestors, The Deer... they are going to shift too, and they are looking forward to "talk a new language"; New ways of existence, They are asking us humans too first do a unification of the entire humanity, then and finally do the Ceremonies of Renovation of the World; The old (candles) offerings that our ancestors did are about to end...”

Mara’akame Paritemai (Don Santos Lopez) is the previous Governor of the Tateikie Huichol community (San Andres Cohamiata) North of Jalisco, Mexico. He spent 5 years as the leader of the Ceremonial Centre in San Jose Tesorero. Marakame Paritemai has over thirty years of experience as a medicine man and healer.

Dr David Luke, psychologist, is a lecturer, researcher and writer focusing on anomalous experience and altered states, especially transpersonal psychedelic experiences. He has published over 100 academic texts in this area, including co/editing and co-authoring four recent books. He also co/organises various events such as the Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness Salon, Breaking Convention and Psychic Lysurgery.