Current Comments@ EUGENE GARFIELD iNSTITUTE FOR SC IENTHC wFORMATIOM =o~ MARK= ST PfiIbiOELPHIA, pA 19104

Huichol Art and Culture: Vanishing Treasures of the Sierra Madre

Number 13 March 29, 1993

Introduction Preserving an Endangered Species

Cw-ren~ Conterrts@ (C@) readers are fa- In a literal sense, Huichol yam paintings miliar with my long fascination with and other arts and crafts are the last Huichol art, the brightly colored “paintings” flowerings of an ancient culture that traces made by pressing strands of yam onto ply- its ongins to the Toltec and Aztec refugees wood covered with beeswax. This psyche- from the Spanish conquests Others have delic art, inspired by religious pilgrimages suggested even older links with the Nayarit to the Wirikuta desert during which the tribes which settled in the Sierra Madre Huichol Indians partake in a peyote ritual, long before the Aztecs entered the valley was first described in CC in 1979. I Other of Mexico.6 Consequently, it became even essays have described Huichol mythology,~ more important to me to commission my visit to a Huichol settlement in San Emeteria’s yarn paintings as a way to pre- Andres in the Sierra Madre mountain range serve the memory of a vanishing way of in Mexico,~ and the symbolism of “Pilgrim- life. age to Wirikuta,” a yarn painting by the The gradual extinction of the Huichol Huichol artist, Emeteria Rios Martinez.4 culture was brought home in a very direct What first attracted me to this exciting and personal way when Emeteria found that art form was its bold use of bright primary she suffered from uterine cancer. With our colors and the primitive, almost childlike help she was treated by specialists and ber compositions, As my collection grew cancer appeared to be in remission. How- through the help of Olga Vasquez, now at ever, she recently had a relapse and is rest- the University of California at San Diego, I ing under doctor’s orders. But she still finds learned more about the Huichol Indian cul- the time and strength to continue creating ture and religion. By taking with Emeteria yarn paintings which, no doubt, nurtures and visiting San Andres, I became aware her spirit. of the bleak hardships under which the Hui- Recently, donations from my collection chols live in their remote communities in of Huichol yam paintings were made to the rugged Sierra Ma&e. Perhaps of even various institutions in Philadelphia to share greater concern was the fact that the Hui- their beauty with a larger audience, These chol people, and their unique way of life, include the University of Pennsylvania Mu- were dwindling under the relentless en- seum of Archaeology and Anthropology croachment of modernization in the form as well as the Caring Center, a West Phila- of new roads, airstrips, and economic pres- delphia child care facility that evolved from sures that encourage ever greater numbers the 1S1Caring Center for Children and Par- to migrate away from their rural homelands ents.T The mural in the museum can be to the cities. seen at the entrance to the Kress Gallery.

270 In addition, we have presented countless tion of Huichol culture today as their small yarn paintings to 1S1visitors from all shamanic tradition is disintegrating under over the world. the pressures of Mexico’s modernization.

Revisiting the Huichol Culture: About the Author Maria von Bolschwing Von Bolschwing, a native of South Af- The opportunity to discuss Huichol art rica, emigrated to San Francisco in 1959 and culture again arose when I recently and later became a US citizen. She received met Maria von Bolschwing. I had read her a bachelor’s degree in librarianship from recent article on the Huichols in Whole the University of Cape Town before study- Earth Reviews She founded the Huichol ing at San Francisco State University, where Art Center in Sausalito, California, in 1983. she earned a bacheior”s degree in history While discussing our mutuai interests in and art history as well as a master’s degree the Huichols, Maria described her activi- in English literature. ties in Yelapa, Mexico, a small isIand fish- While an English literature teacher at ing village and artist colony south of Puerto Santa Rosa Junior College, she became in- Vallarta where she now lives. After invit- terested in tribal art on a visit to Guate- ing her to contribute an essay for C@’ she mala. She discovered Huichol art at a sent several ~rs for consideration. Her 1992 Guadalajara museum and, for the past 20 article from Hola Amigos! entitled “Dancing years, has frequently traveled to the Sierra Through the God’s Eye” is reprinted here.’J Madre. After resettling in Yelapa, Maria The paper describes Huichol sacred art, founded the Huichol Art Center to preserve including not only yarn paintings but also thk vanishing art form and help Huichol art- music and dance, ritual ceremonies, bead- ists to create and market their works. The work crafts, prayer bowls, and embroidered center also supported needy Huichols with clothing. However, it mainly focuses on food, shelter, and alternatives to migrant the shamanistic religion and worldview of work. For more information, contact Maria the Huichols as well as their life on the von Bolschwing at P.O. Box 637, Sausalito, “ranchos,” loose-knit communities orga- California, 94965. She cart be reached at nized around ceremonial centers. She also (415) 332-3415 or by fax at 415-331-6334. poignantly describes her visit to Rancho ***** Matatita, a four-hour hike from San Andres. My thanks to Al Welljams-Dorof for his Finally, she discusses the precarious posi- help in the preparation of this essay. o1s[1993 REFERENCES 1. Garneld E. The psychedelic art of the Huichol Indians. Current Comerm (52):5-7, 24-31 Decemtxr 1979. (Reprinted in: Garffeld E. Essays ofcrn irrformution scienris(. Philadelphia 1S1Press, 1981. Vol. 4. p, 348-50.) 2------Huichol mythology arrd culture. Part 1, World’s largest yarn painting is latest in series of ISI- commissioned artworks. Current Comerm (28):5- 11, 13 July 1981. (Reprinted irr {bid., 1983. Vol. 5. p. 164-70.) 3------Huichol mythology and culture. Part 2. Crm the Huichols absorb mndem technology and retain their tmd~rions? Current Conrerm (29):5-11, 20 Jul y 1981. (Reprinted in: /bid., 1983. Vol. 5. p. 171-7.) 4------Huichol srl at 1S1: “Pilgrimage to Wirikuta” by Emeteria RIOSMartinez and “Nifios huicholes” by Lark Lucas. Current Corwerm (22):3-8, 2 June 1986. (Reprinted in: Ibid., 1988. Vol. 9. p, 176-81.) 5. Berrirt K, ed. Ari of the Huichol Irrdiarr.r.New York Abrams, 1978.212 p. 6. Negrin J. The Huichol Indians. UNESCO Courier (2): 16-7; 23-7, Febnmry 1979. 7. Gatileld E. Child care: an investment in the future. Part 2. ‘llre 1S1Caring Center for Children and Parents. Current Coritenrs (7):5-13, 14 February 19S3. (Reprinted in: Op cit., 1984. Vol. 6. p. 38-46.) 8, von Bnlschwing M. Dancing through the grid’s eye: Huichol aft and culture. Whole Earth Rev, 75:48-51, Summer 1992. 9. von Bolschwing M. Dmrcing through the grid’s eye. HohI Amigos! 2( I):11-3, 1992. 271 Reprinted with permission from Hola Amigos? 2( 1): 1I-3, 1992.

Dancing Through The God’s Eye by Maria von Bolschwing

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Maria von Bdschwing

High in the mountains of Western Mex- One can only marvel at the tenacity with ico, approximately 10,000 Huichol Indians which these remarkable people have re- continue to live a lifestyle that is closer to tained their own cultural and religious au- Pre-Columbian times than that of any other tonomy. indigenous people on this continent, Pro- How exactly has this aboriginal group tected by their wild terrain, they never fell survived with their original tribal structure, subject to invading Spaniards, and even religion and art intact? What has kept the long after the signing of a treaty with the Huichols-despite poor soil, lack of rain Mexican Government, they continued to re- and Mestizo land encroachment-dancing sist acculturation, Only recent] y have air- so enduringly through the Eye of God? strips and roads given access to a tribe still The Huichols are, in a sense, a tribe of strikingly similar to that described in 1898 shamans; it is said that over half of them by one of the first anthropologists in the take up this way of life. Religion for the Sierra Madre, Norwegian, Cad Lumholtz. Huichols is prsonal rather than institution- rdized, yet communrd too, in that all under- telling to pilgrimage. Thirdly, the Huichols stand that they comprise the whole of it. concern themselves with the wider concept Because so much of Huichol art stems from of healing the Earth Mother. In all three this strong shamanic tradition, it would stages, it is the shaman who experientially seem important to place it in a wider leads the way. panhuman perspective. This art is prayen Feathers, which are the heart of God, are not art for art’s sake, it is Art for All’s the shaman’s power and his instrument of sake. communication with the Gods. They act as In this society, shamans are the consum- the shaman’s telephone. When the shaman mate artist-the specialists in their tradi- points his prayer feathers to the sun, it is tional religious system. They know how to seen as touch-tone dialing, with God on tap the metaphysical world, seeing it as a the other end of the line. Shamans all have reservoir of power from which the artist their own sacred basket containing feath- can envision, translate and create designs. ers, arrows and mirrors, and they must also Such Shamanic art provides a vital link to undergo long years of initiation and trial. our Prdeolithic past. Many ancient tools and Many fail to complete the arduous train- keys, ignored for so long, are disappmrhrg ing required, but those who return from before we can rediscover from them how their final days alone on a cliff after eat- to reconnect with the forces underlying our ing Hikuri, have reached a state of exis- planet. tential harmony which can be used to help So what exactly are shamans and what others. do they do? In our more complex Western social sys- Somewhere between a psychologist, a tems, we tend to have institutionalized spe- priest and a psychic, the shaman is on the cialists who transmit art and information heroic journey, adventuring into the spirit- from one generation to another without ex- world to return with information other- plicit recourse to the supernatural. In fact, wise unobtainable for the rest of us. The we have only recently come back to recog- shaman does this while in a state of trance, nition of psychic forces as underpinning and the beginnings of not only religion factors in our lives. In direct contrast, and medicine, but art and dance are inti - shamanic art encodes and channels sacred mately connected with revelations gained psychic knowledge and it is this conscious- in such states. Shamans, moreover, effec- ness of the intricate balance between physi- tively use knowledge gained in trance to cal and metaphysical phenomena which cure the sick and restore equilibrium to makes of the finest Huichol art talismans the group. which can restore to our lives the magical Bob Masla, in his “Healing Art of the connections we have lost. Huichol Indians,” posits that the very name Moreover, in shamanic societies, where “Huichol” means Feather Healing People, there are no governments or bureaucracies and explains a healing process they use to to stand between people and future uncer- achieve a life of balance. tainties (ie., no one to blame), life becomes How to live a life of balance? First, one everyone’s responsibility. This is so, both must work to heal the Self. Beginning with collective y and individually. The shaman’s the heart, one must undergo a tine tuning, ability, here as a sacred technician, capable so to speak, of all aspects of the SOULSec- of making contact with other realms, helps ondl y, one works to heal one’s immediate to explain and ease the vicissitudes of fate. circle of family, friends and neighbors, The shaman travels not only internally and something traditionally made easier through cosmically, but within an international net- [hc customary use of Hikuri, which brings work which understands that each art piece, people to much the same vibrational state each “niereka,” or mirror of God, serves to while cxpcricncing everything from story- reflect us back to ourselves.

273 RANCHO LIFE gives the impression of being as undisturbed md remote as it was a hundred years ago. Huichols know from their mythology that I’he first time I arrived was on mule-back, they are most likely to encounter the gods md the descent to the valley floor where when they go off to hunt in their best fin- :he compound of huts nestled was so steep ery, and it is with this in mind that the :hat I was fearful of slipping and tumbling women outfit their men in such magnifi- iown the cliffside. However, my concern cent weaving and embroidery. Like the $oon dissolved as I lost myself in the tran- Sufis, the Huichols believe themselves to ~uil beauty of the scene below. Bathed in be that part of God which entertains the late afternoon sunlight, turkeys were strut- rest—so to remove them from their religio- ting beneath a mango tree, some dogs lay cultural base quickly turns them into more sleeping against warm adobe walls, two alienated Mestizos in jeans. The older and women in bright kerchiefs sat embroider- more conservative members of the com- ing on a blanket. Nearby, babies played in munity, knowing this, try to keep roads the dirt, and an older sister, wielding a pail, from bringing progress to their territory; came wobbling back from the waterhole. but borders are increasingly disputed, and From far off came a tinkling sound, in- each year more (and-hungry Mestizos with creasing in volume as we reached level rifles kill off more deer and annex more ground. The goats and sheep were coming Huichol land. Nevertheless, in most remote home after a day at pasture. Entranced, I canyons and mesas, life continues much as moved closer, eager to get a better look at it has always done. the colorful motifs the women were creat- Huichols have never liked to live in vil- ing as they continued to sit working with- lages, belonging instead to loose-knit com- out looking up until we were right upon munities called “ranchos” which center them. around ceremonial centers. There, the Hui- Susanna was beading a prayer bowl that chols gather around their “tukis” or temples, day, her dark eyes far away as she seem- for fiestas or events such as the changing ingly picked at random from the profusion of their governors. It is a sign of how far of colorful glass jumbled before her. Yel- [he rancho of San Andres has slipped from low butterflies were chasing red squirrels the old ways that it functions more as a around the interior of the bowl. Her mother, village and less as a religious center. Lupita, whose face wore the same intensely Of the five major communities, San inward smile, fingers dipping rhythmically Andres, San Sebastian, Tuxpan, Guadalupe in and out of the cotton manta, was em- Ocotan, and Santa Catarina, only the latter, broidering a skirt-hem with a diamond-like being the most remote and with the most design in glowing blues, purples, and golds. sacred caves, has, so far, managed to hold That they should be creating such brilliant out against road and airstrip alike. Santa designs with no inspiration other than the Catarina is an 18-22 hour hike from the skyline and the simple vegetation around San Andres airstrip, described by intrepid them impressed me until I recalled that photographer and ethnobotanist, Peter Hikuri, their sacred cactus, gave colorful Conings, as being more like mountaineer- visions and the ability to see the auras of ing. Jim Madden’s account of his stay there things. In fact, a physicist friend had once (Hunters of the Heart), movingly describes commented on the Huichols’ remarkable life in this Shangri-La as he experienced it ability to depict patterns invisible to the 15 years ago. My own visit was to Alejan- naked eye-designs otherwise only discer- dro Carrillo’s ranch, four hours hike from niblethrough microscopes. San Andres Cohiamata. There was a brief flurry of excitement— Rancho Metatita, high on the pine-clad dark eyes obliquely taking us in, palms of mesa and circled by hawks and eagles, still hands gliding gently across ours—as we were all introduced. Almost at once, life up beside her husband, she looked very flowed on as though we were not there. frail and weak. Yet after much chanting Our host, having dismantled the mule, took and communion about the fire, and as the his place with the rest to continue beading shaman continued to wave his prayer a mask, his son thonged some sandals, the feathers over her head, the woman began daughter with the pail of water was adding to rally. it to com to soften it before it was ground By dawn, everyone was gone from the into masa for tortillas. A baby goat jumped fire except for the shaman, sleeping off the into my lap, and I wished I’d brought some- effects of the tequila he had used. In fact, thing to do with my hands, as the whole Alejandro was just returning from having family sat absorbed working in the last rays ridden over to a nearby rancho for some of the setting sun. sacks of corn. He was clearly in good hu- Time seemed to slow and grow gold and mor and had stuck a cluster of white flow- thick. In the hush, all that could be heard ers in his hatband. Flowers were scarce and was the light twittering of birds and the much prized in the mountains. The Huichols sighing of the wind through the pines. Then call them “Gods Prayers.” suddenly, on some unspoken signal, every- Soon the women were up and getting one put their work down and turned to things ready for breakfast, lighting the fire watch the clouds flushing as the sun sank below the clay stove. Breakfast was much behind the mesa and the day slowly dark- the same as supper, but with the addition ened into a night sky of countless stars. of some scrambled eggs. From somewhere appeared a Huichol with Once again their daily routine took off an enormous log which he proceeded to around us. Water had to be brought from light. The women disappeared into the the dank weed-covered sumps some dis- cooking casita, to which we were soon sum- tance away, com had to be softened and moned, to partake of savorsome blue com ground, animals needed to be fed. Soon tortillas flavored with beans and tiny seeds everyone was back at their artwork. Some popped from a pod. Clearly, this simple threaded earrings, a woman diligently repast was supper, to be followed by enamel worked a backstrap loom, the man who cups of strong sweet coffee. We were called had brought the log the night before was to eat in relays, as there were only 3 cups, finishing a drum he was carving. It turned 3 plates and even less cutlery. The Indians out he was the husband of the woman who simply scooped their beans with rolled tor- had been sick. He broke out into smiles as tillas. we expressed our good wishes for her For a while we sat around the blazing health. Some time later he strode enthusi- fire. Although it was February and bitterly astically away with the drum under his arm, cold, the family wore no more than their off to fulfill a religious obligation at some usual cotton outfits. After much storytelling fiesta. He was a musician, we were told, and laughter, our host indicated that it was and it was unthinkable for him not to go no time to retire to the casita where the whole matter how sick his wife might have just family slept under one blanket. We were recently been. given the far end to lay out sleeping bags, Indeed, all the Huichols seemed to do but the wind was whistling through the slats whatever had to be done dkectly, and with and the strangeness of it all made it impos- no fuss. Everything, whether it was weed- sible to sleep, especially as a small group ing the fields or beadwork or wandering was forming around the fire and talking in off into the woods to look for herding herbs, low tones. happened with a sort of unspoken fluidity; It appeared that we had arrived on a night everyone seemed to intuit what the others when a woman from a neighboring com- were doing and respected their reasons for pound was to undergo a healing. Propped doing it.

275 That night, as I lingered around the slow- and in the sacred ceremonies. These cer- dying embers, feeling curiously at peace emonies, which contain the mdiments of with myself, 1 reflected on the differences true drama, enable the Huichols to take part in our lifestyles. When these men are home, once more in the re-creation of mythical they spend time with their wives and fami- events and happenings of the earliest times. lies simply doing what has to be done. The script of their sacred drama is their There is time for laughter, for storytelling, unwritten mythology and the plots reenact for loving as well as for work. When the such things as the first pilgrimage to the men go out to hunt or travel, however, the homeland of the Gods, or various rain cer- women gather to sit in a circle in the middle emonies. It is important here to remember of the compound with their artwork. This that such mystical participation enables the same circle, a Huichol friend told me, acts actors to become their Gods. as a cone of psychic power into which dis- It is hardly surprising, therefore, to find tant hunters can tune into their ranchos that as individuals the Huichols take re- whenever they wish. The ritual of pausing sponsibility for the creation of their own to watch the sun go down achieves the same realities. This attitude leads to a remark- telepathic contact between those at home able tolerance of individual behavior. and those far away, For Huichols, such mys- Rarely will a mother, even one who has tical networks are not part of life—they already lost children to the steepness of the are life. No matter where they are, they cliffs, warn them to stay away from dan- seem to experience God in everything they gerous ledges. Neither will Huichols at- see and do. This attitude, reflected in their tempt to dissuade others from committing art, is their gift to us. suicide, Such things are considered to be a matter of choice. In much the same way, it SACRED ART is accepted that each family will take care of itself, so that charity in the Mestizo’s sense Huichol sacred art is both mystical and is virtually unknown. If a bean or com crop communal. Among the tribe, every adult is fails, one doss not beg for help from one’s an artist. Learning as children, all men know neighbors, but struggles on-or starves. how to do beadwork and make votive para- Such extreme pride and passion for free- phernalia, while the women do the weav- dom make it all the more important to know ing and embroidery. In marked contrast how to connect with and affect the Gods. with Western art (perhaps the most indi- Although such use of “magic” can be a vidualized aspect of our civilization), what life-and-death affair, the Huichol word for the Huichols do functions instead as a mys- ‘work’ is the same as their word for ‘dance’, tical vehicle through which their sacred col- considering the latter to be a mystical form lective knowledge is passed on. They firmly ~f work as vital to the growth of com as believe, furthermore, that if one of their :he weeding of the fields. cantadors, or singing shamans, alters any Huichols really love to dance, and also of their oral literature or mythology, at once :0 listen to Mexican or even rock music on disaster follows, This inherent belief pre- :heir prized portable radios. Most Huichol vents the sacred oral knowledge from be- men play crude violins and guitars of obvi- ing diluted or altered. ms European origin, but their ‘serious’ Furthermore, whereas specialization in music (which often goes on for as long as civilized art reduces participation to mere 12 hours), is the chanting of the sacred looking or passive listening, art for the nyths. Although it is the cantador who Huichols is a living thing which they expe :hants, sporadically joined by others, the rience directly. Their young need no altar must be continually watched and the schools, for their education occurs natu- ;hanting listened to attentive y all night, rally as they participate in daily activities est disaster follow.

276 ......

Huichol mythology can be arranged in two of my women friends called me to link three major cycles; the dry season, the wet arms with them and dance as the sun rose. season, and the Christian cycle, which rep- This is the traditional way women dance to resent the assimilation of mission~ teach- purify the com and make it edible, along ings into the earlier myths. In the reenact- with the actual parching of the com ker- ment of these dramatic cycles, the Gods nels on the brazier by a woman wearing are portrayed as personifications of natural the shaman’s plume of eagle feathers. Such phenomena. In this primitive philosophy, time-honored ways, watched by the chil- attempts are made to assemble the universe dren who will soon participate themselves into order through the means of a mystical in the dancing and chanting, ensure the mythology which inclines the Gods to act mystical interaction with the Gods. as the people wish them to. The sacred Just as wet season dancing honors the paraphernalia with which this past is Rain Goddess and precedes the com plant- achieved is the symbolic ing, once October comes art of the tribe. It is also the male gods are invoked the collective oral tradition, Many ancient tools at the dry season ceremo- never to be tampered with, and keys, ignored nies to provide enough sun lest the miracle requested to harvest the corn. The not happen. In other for so long, are dis- Huichol pantheon thus words, should any indi- appearing before gives equal credit to both vidual attempt to vary we can rediscover female and male deities. from the sacred norms, he from them how to For a Huichol woman, or she would be jeopar- reconnect with the handiwork is a completely dizing the entire group. In naturaI activity. In the this prelogical tradition, forces underlying morning, after feeding the the group morale is rein- our planet. family (if there is anything forced by the shaman, and to eat), she will seat her- this is what has held the self down in the yard tribe together for so long against outside against the wall of the house to embroider influence, or do beadwork until the afternoon. Not all At the Ceremony of the Parched Corn, women are able to do this as most of them which I was invited to experience in May, do not have the necessary materials and in 1989, we were repeatedly aroused at the the Sierra there is no place to buy them; first sign of drowsiness, prodded to getup and this is where such places as the Huichol and dance, and slap our sandals on the Art Center are able to help with the provi- ground in such a way that the Gods would sion of materials at greatly reduced prices. hear our prayers, .Sometimes the men in Beadwork is one of the major art forms the half-circle around the shaman would of the tribe; Huichols crdl anything made join in with the chanting, while at other of beads “kuka” or beauty. Long before the times there would be a break in which the Spanish Conquest, the Indians had perfected violins would pick up and we would all the art of beadwork using bone, clay stone, dance enthusiastically. At one such inter- shell, coral, turquoise, pyrite, and jade. val, we were led in a circular step by a Beads were colored with vegetable or in- male dancer wearing a deerskin about his sect dyes and the colors combined into shoulders. Everyone imitated the graceful shapes from nature and geometric designs. running of the deer and there was much The dexterity of the Huichols and their friendly laughter at my ineptitude and the mastery of any material they work with way I kept bumping my head on the low date from ancient times. When the produc- hanging mango branches. Toward dawn, tion of beads became mechanized, the Hui-

27 7 chols simply availed themselves of the new He found that the alteration of even one materials. color tone affected the entire overall ef- Beads also have ritual uses. Prayer bowls, fect. or “jicaras,” are commonly seen in both Each primary color has a traditional Huichol ceremonies and on their perma- symbolic meaning. Red and orange are nent altars in their God-houses. Highly sa- related to sun and fire, blues and greens cred because of their ability to communi- relate to water and rain. Successful combi- cate directly with the Gods, these gourds nations give the artists much joy in their have colored beads artistically arranged to work. Eligio Carrillo once explained how, express innermost wishes. It is believed that during the creation of one of his larger the Gods, thus addressed, will drink their works, he had “...become drunk with the prayers from the bowls. colors of the Gods.” As with Tantric Art, Patterns placed upon the dried gourds such ritual use of color adds a rich dimen- represent a variety of requests, such as a sion of mood. successful hunt, plentiful crops, or heaIth Yarn paintings are made from boards for an individual or a family. Most are re- spread with beeswax or pine resin, into quests for abundance. Sometimes the bowls which the yarn is pressed. Although meth- depict little household gods waving prayer ods differ, very few yarn painters first cut feathers, while in others the bowl is made an outline in the wax, preferring to simply as a mirror of one of the states of God, work as their intuition tells them. Some most frequently seen as the trilogy of deer, begin in one comer and spread outward. com and peyote. Others fill in the edges and work inward Perhaps the best known form of their art toward the center (very difficult to do). Yet is their yarn painting. Originating with the others press ongoing outlines in one strong small wooden tablas which were left as of- color and fill in later. ferings, yam paintings as we now know It should be noted also, that in early them originated about fifty years ago. These yarn paintings, especially the spaces be- larger squares were originally covered with tween, things look markedly cellular, serv- beads rather than yam, in the manner of ing to remind how the interior visions prayer bowls. This practice was given up brought on by the sacred cactus go way in favor of yarn because of the costliness beyond the sight afforded by the physical of the beads. Both yarn and beads are pur- eye. Yarn paintings often depict mystical chased by Huichol traders venturing down states in much the same way medieval into the cities. The texture and cost of stained glass did (i.e., the rose windows yarn paintings is dependent on the quality of cathedrals). At their most sacred, such of the yarn and the time taken to make yarn paintings fulfill the requirements of them. being a ‘nierika’, Nierikas can be defined Although Huichols are known for their as ‘cosmic holes’ through which the Gods use of bright colors, their choices are af- ~merge to pass from one plane to another, fected by the rainbow-like auras they see as ‘likenesses’ or ‘mirrors’ of god-like while on peyote and most painters prefer states of being. to use subtly vibrant colors. American art- In this era of significant change for the ist Christopher Moses, who has incorpo- Huichols, when traditional ways are tkeat- rated some of their color schemes into his med with breakdown, it is heartening to own paintings, maintains that Huichol find so many artists still at work with tech- knowledge of the spectrum is very finely niques which basically can be traced back tuned. Well aware of which juxtapositions :0 the ancient feather mosaics of the Mix- create the illusions of other shades, they :ecs and Aztecs. These modem nienkas con- achieve precise effects akin to ‘op-art’. :inue to pass on energy from one plane of

278 the universe to another: like seeds sown by emment is making every attempt to inte- the artist, they germinate in our conscious- grate the Huichol Indians with the Mexi- ness and the magic connects us to the source. can mainstream. Roads, schools, clinics, air- strips, and lumber mills are bringing about THE HUICEIOL INDIANS TODAY the disintegration of traditional ways with great rapidity. Suddenly the Indians find The Huichol Indians, whose pre-Hispanic themselves constantly needing money to culture still survives in the remote ranges survive. They not only need cash for land of Mexico’s Sierra Madre, live a life intri- taxes, but for modem medicines, beads and cately woven of magic and sacred mythol- yarn for their votive arts, cattle for ceremo- ogy. f30th men and women keep alive the nies now that their deer have disappeared, ancient shamanic traditions which have be- and transport money for pilgrimages which come a precarious reality in the last years formerly were made on foot (not to men- of the 20th century. Soon, all that will be tion seeds or food). left of this complex link to our Paleolithic With no other resources other than the past will be memories and artifacts, such stony, drought-ridden land, and without the as yarn paintings, in the hands of museums ability to farm or hunt, the Huichols are and collectors. forced down to coastal sugar factories and Yarn paintings originated with patterned tobacco plantations where they are exploited bowls placed in sacred places as offerings as a cheap labor pool. Once they leave the or prayers, and each one is a personal protection of their homelands, they fall prey nierika, or mirror-image reflecting ‘Es- not only to the ridicule and violence of sence’. They are a form of creative visual- Mestizos’ attitudes toward “Indlos” but also ization, of sympathetic magic which obliges to diseases for which they have no immu- the Gods to respond. nity. Once uprooted, they can no longer In their land of canyons, sparse rainfall participate in the ceremonies which con- and uncertain Iiveiihood, the Huichols de- nect them to their land, their well being, pend heavily upon their shamanic connec- and their shamans, which in turn discon- tions with the elements and natural forces nect them from their Gods. in order to survive. Their sacred art depicts Once at the very heart of Huichol life, prayers to the Rain Goddesses, thanks to the shamans find themselves losing both the Sun God, and all various intricate psy- control and credibility in the face of civi- chic ties existing between them and the lized diseases and the droughts caused by plant and animal life around them. Such art the overall changes in the earth’s weather is not only often of a high order, but serves patterns. Increasingly driven down to the to remind us of the fusion with natural foothills by untenable conditions, the Hui- forces we have lost. They are talismans cbols are forced to enter the Mexican main- and amulets in a fast-changing world. stream by way of plantations and city slums Ironically, the finest Huichol art is now where the loss of faith in their shamans as endangered as the disappearing shamanic soon threatens the very fabric of their tra- lifestyle which creates it. The Mexican Gov- ditional culture, religion and art.

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