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The Huichols

The Huichols are a small indigenous group of people living in the northwestern mountains of Mexico spread over a remote canyon-etched land covering parts of the states of Nayarit, Jalisco and Durango. Consisting of a population of approximately 14,000 people, they live scattered over a 15,000 square mile area in small hamlets sometimes called ranchos. They are known for being one of the few indigenous groups that have maintained their Pre-Columbian traditions, practicing their shamanic ritual and healing work for many hundreds of years.

Huichol (pronounced Wett-chol), according to Norwegian explorer Carl Lumholtz who visited the Huichols in the late 1800's, is a corruption of Virarika, the word the Huichols call themselves, which signifies “doctor” or “healer”, a name they qualify for since an important number of men and some women are shamans (known as Marakames in their language). To help preserve the ancient beliefs and ritual ceremonies, they began making colorful and detailed paintings made of yarn on a base of beeswax and pine resin. It is through this artwork that the Huichol Indians have learned to express and document their rituals and sacred world view. Otherwise, the Huichols have a strong oral tradition and only in the past years has the language been converted into a written language that is taught in their school along with Spanish.

Huichol celebrate a continuous cycle of rituals, pilgrimages and devotional practices in their life to help them stay connected to their ancestral ways and the various gods that exist as living presences in their daily experience. Some of their more prominent gods are Tatewarí (Grandfather Fire), Kauyumari (the Deer Spirit), Tate Haramara (Grandmother Ocean), Takutsi Nakawé (Grandmother Growth), and Tatei Yurianaka (Mother Earth).

Huichols traditionally have been dependent upon Corn, planting their fields on the steep slopes of their canyon-crossed homeland. The meaning of life is deeply ingrained in their view of Corn that sustains them and the presence of the spirit of Deer that guides them. The yearly cycles of working the fields, planting, growing, and harvesting the corn is supported with spiritual rituals of special significance and clearly demonstrates an interwoven relationship between the Huichols, the gods of Weather, Sun, Corn, Earth and more to create the success of the crops and an equilibrium with the natural world.

The Huichols are also well known for their annual pilgrimages to sacred sites where deities have taken the form of geographical features such as mountains, lakes, deserts and springs. Here the Huichol shamans petition the gods of these special locations for shamanic capacities, wisdom, vision and help for their people. One of their most famous pilgrimage sites is a highland desert know as Wirikuta. Here the sacred peyote cactus is found and through its powers, given by the gods, can bestow great gifts. Although the cactus is considered hallucinogenic by modern people, the Huichols revere its capacity to create trances that generate visionary perspective or can destroy the lives of those that are unclean and have not been prepared properly with the right assistance of an authorized Marakame. Therefore the desert, like all sacred sites, must be approached with the utmost respect and guidance from Marakames that have authentically divined the appropriateness of the pilgrim to be there.