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(Huichol) of Tateikita, Jalisco, Mexico

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(Huichol) of Tateikita, Jalisco, Mexico ETHNO-NATIONALIST POLITICS AND CULTURAL PRESERVATION: EDUCATION AND BORDERED IDENTITIES AMONG THE WIXARITARI (HUICHOL) OF TATEIKITA, JALISCO, MEXICO By BRAD MORRIS BIGLOW A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2001 Copyright 2001 by Brad Morris Biglow Dedicated to the Wixaritari of Tateikita and the Centro Educativo Tatutsi Maxa Kwaxi (CETMK): For teaching me the true meaning of what it is to follow in the footsteps of Tatutsi, and for allowing this teiwari to experience what you call tame tep+xeinuiwari. My heart will forever remain with you. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee members–Dr. John Moore for being ever- supportive of my work with native peoples; Dr. Allan Burns for instilling in me the interest and drive to engage in Latin American anthropology, and helping me to discover the Huichol; Dr. Gerald Murray for our shared interests in language, culture, and education; Dr. Paul Magnarella for guidance and support in human rights activism, law, and intellectual property; and Dr. Robert Sherman for our mutual love of educational philosophy. Without you, this dissertation would be a mere dream. My life in the Sierra has been filled with countless names and memories. I would like to thank all of my “friends and family” at the CETMK, especially Carlos and Ciela, Marina and Ángel, Agustín, Pablo, Feliciano, Everardo, Amalia, Rodolfo, and Armando, for opening your families and lives to me. In addition, I thank my former students, including los chavos (Benjamín, Salvador, Miguel, and Catarino), las chicas (Sofía, Miguelina, Viviana, and Angélica), and los músicos (Guadalupe and Magdaleno). From the community, I thank the autoridades tradicionales/kawiteros and mara’akates--Don Ricardo, Samuel, Faustino, Gerardo and family, Chalío, Manuel, and Lucio. Professionally, I thank Rocío de Aguinaga, Sarah Corona, Carlos Chávez and Ángeles Arcos of Asociación Jalisciense de Apoyo a Grupos Indígenas (AJAGI), Mike Finerty, Oscar Hagerman, Héctor Hernández, Dago and Karen, and los pilotos. Lastly, I wish to thank my family and fiends for helping me through the critical stages of this research--the iv Biglows around the world, Mike and Sandy Iski, Steve Mizrach, James Bosworth, Ken Sturrock, Sebastian Romero, and Gordon Weaver. v TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES...............................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1 Research Questions and Hypotheses .............................................................................. 1 Research Site................................................................................................................... 4 The Huichol Homeland Communities ........................................................................ 4 Tateikita .................................................................................................................... 11 The Centro Educativo Tatutsi Maxa Kwaxi (CETMK)............................................ 15 Dissertation Outline and Layout ................................................................................... 18 2. HUICHOL HISTORY AND IDENTITY STUDIES ....................................................22 Historical Setting of the Huichol .................................................................................. 22 Prehistory and General History................................................................................. 22 Contemporary Huichol History................................................................................. 29 Social and Political Organization.............................................................................. 31 Contemporary Religious Organization ..................................................................... 36 Tateikita: A Community Profile .................................................................................. 41 Tateikita Land Tenure and Economy........................................................................ 41 The Material Life of Tateikita................................................................................... 46 Tateikita Geography.................................................................................................. 47 Gender Roles in Tateikita ......................................................................................... 49 Nationalism and Ethnic Identity ................................................................................... 50 Who are We? Defining Ethnic Identity Among Indigenous Peoples ...................... 50 Peasant Economics and Indigenous Class Formation............................................... 58 Autonomy, Self-Determination, and Resistance....................................................... 61 Questions of Ethnicity and Nationalism ................................................................... 65 vi 3. EDUCATION AND CULTURAL PRESERVATION .................................................70 Indigenous Educational History.................................................................................... 70 A General History of U.S. Indian Education and Policy .......................................... 71 A Brief History of Indigenous Education in Mexico................................................ 79 Indigenous Language and Culture Preservation ........................................................... 86 Border Pedagogy and Cultural Diversity.................................................................. 86 Cultural Preservation vs. Cultural Revitalization ..................................................... 87 Recent Trends in Native Education and Anthropology: A U.S. Perspective........... 88 Recent Trends in Native Education and Anthropology: A Latin American Perspective ................................................................................................................ 91 Educational Research and the Huichol ......................................................................... 97 4. THEORY AND METHODS .......................................................................................103 Theoretical Perspectives ............................................................................................. 103 Ethnicity and Identity.............................................................................................. 106 Pan-Indianism and Regional Cultures ................................................................ 106 Native Epistemology and Cosmology ................................................................ 109 Political Theory and the Aims of Indigenous Movements ..................................... 112 Dialectical Materialism and Anomie .................................................................. 112 Power-Knowledge Relations in Historical Materialism ..................................... 115 Educational Theory: Developing a Philosophy of Education for the Huichol ...... 118 Critical Theory in Education............................................................................... 119 Democratic Socialism ......................................................................................... 123 Research Methods....................................................................................................... 127 Formal Interviewing of Key Personnel................................................................... 127 Population Demographics and Sampling................................................................ 129 Student Questionnaires and Huichol Cultural Values ............................................ 130 Informal Interviewing and Oral History Reconstruction........................................ 131 Participant Observation........................................................................................... 133 5. DOING APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY AMONG THE HUICHOL .........................137 Applied Anthropology and the Question of Researcher Roles................................... 137 Doing Anthropology in a Huichol Community ...................................................... 144 Living Wixarika--Being Teiwari ............................................................................ 147 Working in a Closed Corporate Community .............................................................. 151 The Concept of the Teiwari (other) in Huichol External Relations........................ 152 Huichol Distrust: Reporters, Franciscans and Ethical Conduct............................. 153 vii 6. HUICHOL FORMAL EDUCATION AND THE CETMK ........................................161 Building the Dream: The Centro Educativo Tatutsi Maxa Kwaxi (CETMK)........... 161 Personnel and Organization .................................................................................... 161 External Relations................................................................................................... 181 Life at the
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