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Deep in Central American live an indigenous people known as the Huichol Indians who have maintained to this day their pre-Columbian traditions. The Huichol, who it is believed are descendents of the Aztecs, live in small isolated settlements located in remote areas of the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango, which straddle the Sierra Madre Occidental. It is estimated that there are approximately 15,000 members of this last-known tribe of indigenous Indians in the Americas. The Huichol are known for their colorful clothing and famous for their vivid "yarn paintings" and beadwork.

Huichol History

The Huichol are an agrarian people subsisting from the land. They are dependent on corn, beans and squash as their staple food sources and plant their fields along the steep mountain slopes near their settlements. Life encompasses a yearly cycle of preparing fields, planting seeds, nurturing, and harvesting that is directly related to religious ceremony.

The Huichol, who refer to themselves as "the healers," are peaceful people who have no history of war. It is known that the Huichol were living in the Sierra Madre Mountains when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in 1531on the west coast of Central America seeking the lost gold mines of the Aztecs but soon left because of the barren mountain terrain. More Spanish left the area after the subsequent Indian wars of the 1540's, 1550's and 1560's. It wasn't until 1890 that a European anthropologist, Carl Lumholtz, documented the Huichol culture.

Huichol Cosmology and Shamanism

Huichol cosmology is composed of their beliefs, stories and myths that defines them as a people connected to the natural world and all living things. Because of this belief system, the people depend on nature for survival. Their connection to the natural world entails the four cardinal points as the western world defines as north, south, west, and east. They also have a fifth cardinal point, which is spiritual and where the other four cardinal directions converge forming the cosmos or heavens.

The Huichol follow the tradition of shamanic teachings. Huichol shamanism reveres all of creation, especially the spirit of nature and the power of animals and birds. Huichol shamanism teaches the premise of healing and empowerment of the individual as well as his family, communities, and the environment. They honor and celebrate life through the seasonal cycles. Like the seasonal cycles, their belief system involves a continuous cycle of ritual and devotional exercises to help the people stay connected to their deities. The Huichol do not have a name for God and worship many deities referred to as the "Ancient Ones" who are associated with nature and the spirit. When performing their ceremonies they invite their deities to come into the circle of life to be with them and their families for empowerment and to help the universe stay in balance. One of the main ceremonies is the ritual love offering of the white-tailed deer to their nature-deities. The Huichol believe everyone has a soul (Kupuri) and that we are created from the four elements — fire, air, water and earth — and that each person is a miniature universe that mirrors both the natural and spiritual worlds. Through ritual and ceremony Huichol shamanism provides the way to understand these two worlds and the knowledge and secrets they hold so that they can live in harmony with both.

The shamans still lead the annual 300-mile pilgrimage to Wirikuta to collect peyote. The pilgrimage culminates in an all night ceremony around Grandfather Fire "Tatewari" in which a shamanic ceremony is performed to induce a visionary state to unify their lives with strength, healing and love. Together their cosmology and shamanic tradition form and define a unique and highly structured way of life, which is expressed in every facet of their lives including their colorful and elaborately designed artworks.

Yarn Paintings

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