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Minerva Saucedo
ANTH 1010
Professor James Dykman
11 December 2015

LIFESTYLE, SHAMANISM AND ART OF THE HUICHOLES

Mexico is a country with a variety of Indigenous People that come from the
Mesoamerican civilization, for instance, the Coras, the Huicholes, the Olmec and not to mention
the Maya. This essay will explore the lifestyle, shamanism and art of the Huicholes. Ill begin by
discussing the history and lifestyle of the Huichol (pronounced Wee-chol) tribe.
The Huicholes, refer to themselves as Wixarika1 and have their own language derived
from the Uto-Aztecan language family called Tewi Niukiyari, meaning The Words of the
People.2 They live in the Sierra Madre Occidental which covers the states of Jalisco, Nayarit,
Zacatecas and Durango 3 in small villages called ranchos. In these ranchos, the Huicholes live
in houses made out of adobe or stone, without basic infrastructure electricity, running water
1. Carl Allen Hammerschlag, 2009, The Huichol Offering: A Shamanic Healing
Journey, Journal of Religion and Health 48, (2), Springer: 24658,
http://www.jstor.org.libprox1.slcc.edu/stable/20685222.
2. John B. McIntosh, 1945, Huichol Phonemes, International Journal of
AmericanLinguistics, 11, (1), The University of Chicago Press: 3135,
http://www.jstor.org.libprox1.slcc.edu/stable/1262798.
3. Barbara G. Myerhoff, 1970, The Deer-maize-peyote Symbol Complex Among the Huichol
Indians of Mexico, Anthropological Quarterly 43, (2), The George WashingtonUniversity
Institute for Ethnographic Research: 6478, doi:10.2307/3316599.

2
also, they cook over open fires. Fifty to 100 Huicholes reside in the ranchos which consist of
nuclear families that include the father, his two wives, their children, and a mother-in-law.4 No
groups of kinship exist within the Huichol tribe.5
Before the arrival of the Spaniards, it is believed that the Huicholes were hunter-gatherers
of wild foods, however, nowadays they do practice these customs and they hunt deer, and farm
corn, beans, and squash.6 When Mexico fell to the power of the Spaniards, the Huicholes
managed to preserve their culture and language, and were not Christianized.7
In fact, Huicholes have religious beliefs, there are three deities that they worship which
are from the pre-Colombian mythology. These deities are the Deer which is represented as a
spirit guide, teacher, and knowledge for the shamans; Corn plant represents the form of survival
for the Huicholes and wisdom; and the Peyote plant represents knowledge.8

4. Karla Primosch, and Kathy David, 2001, Instructional Resources: Art of the Huichol People:
A Symbolic Link to an Ancient Culture, Art Education 54, (6), National Art
EducationAssociation: 2532, doi:10.2307/3193912.
5. Barbara G. Myerhoff, 1970, The Deer-maize-peyote Symbol Complex Among the Huichol
Indians of Mexico, Anthropological Quarterly 43, (2), The George WashingtonUniversity
Institute for Ethnographic Research: 6478, doi:10.2307/3316599.
6. Hope MacLean, 2001, Sacred Colors and Shamanic Vision Among the Huichol
Indians of Mexico, Journal of Anthropological Research 57, (3), University of New Mexico:
30523, http://www.jstor.org.libprox1.slcc.edu/stable/3631425.
7. Ibid., 305.
8. Karla Primosch, and Kathy David, 2001, Instructional Resources: Art of the Huichol People:
A Symbolic Link to an Ancient Culture, Art Education, 54, (6), National Art
EducationAssociation: 2532, doi:10.2307/3193912.

Shamanism
As stated before, since the Huicholes avoided being Christianized, this allowed them to keep
their pre-Columbian form of shamanism.9 The Huichol shamans are called maraa kame,
which translates into English as singer. Both men and women may be shamans. They call on
male or female gods, who represent animal spirits, spirits of particular places such as mountains
or bodies of water and natural phenomena such as the sun and moon. Particularly important is
the Deer-god, who is a messenger and translator from gods to humans.10
In order to become a shaman in the Huichol culture, there is specific criteria that needs to
be completed. The Huichol has to make a vow to certain beings such as spirits of particular
places Tatei Haramara (the Pacific Ocean), the Gods of Wirikuta (the desert north of San Luis
Potosi, for instance). Additionally, they must complete a certain number of years of ceremony
and fasting it could be as low as three years and as long as 25 years, depending on each
person.11
One noteworthy feature of Huicholes, however, is the use of the peyote plant. Peyote is a
hallucinogenic cactus that is consumed in the Huichol culture as a source of visions and imagery
for the purpose of creating art. In the Huichol culture, they believe that peyote is a source of
9. Hope MacLean, 2001, Sacred Colors and Shamanic Vision Among the Huichol
Indians of Mexico, Journal of Anthropological Research 57, (3), University of New Mexico:
30523, http://www.jstor.org.libprox1.slcc.edu/stable/3631425.
10. Hope MacLean, 2000, The "deified" Heart: Huichol Indian Soul-concepts and
Shamanic Art, Anthropologica, 42, (1), Canadian Anthropology Society: 7590,
doi:10.2307/25605959.
11. Ibid., 80.

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spiritual and physical energy. Modesto, an aspiring Huichol shaman, stated in the article The
"deified" Heart: Huichol Indian Soul-concepts and Shamanic Art, that when a person takes
peyote, he or she has the energy that comes from peyote. This energy stays with the artists, and
gives them energy to invent images.12
Art
Huicholes are recognized around the world because of their incredible art. Some of the
Huichol art includes embroidery, weaving, decorated objects, yarn painting, etc. The essence of
Huichol art is the creation of symbols and designs, such as deer, eagle, peyote or sun these are
mostly done by embroidery and weaving.13
Decorated objects are mostly part of the Huichol ceremonial life, theyre intended for
their Gods. An example of this art is decorated sticks of cane, arrows, large stone disk with
carved designs, etc. Some of these remain in God-houses or temples.14
Yarn painting is predominant in Huichol art. Yarn paitings are made by spreading beeswax on a
float board, the pressing yarn into the wax, one stand at a time. 15 Male Huicholes artists, are
mostly the ones who create the yarn paintings, whilst women prefer to do weaving, beadwork
and embroidery.16

12. Ibid., 81.

13. Ibid., 82.
14. Ibid., 76.
15. Ibid., 77.
16. Ibid., 79.

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Mexicans buy Huichol art as a symbol of Mexican heritage, however, the main buyers are
people around the world, who purchase expensive Huichol art for their collections.17
Foreigners are fascinated by Huichol Art and Huichol culture in general that in 2007,
Melanie G. Davenport, an assistant professor of Art Education at Georgia State University, and
Karin Gunn, a photography teacher at The American School of So Paulo, Brazil, traveled to
Estipac, Mexico with the purpose of empowering indigenous youth. They presented an
Animation and Technology workshop at the CRES-Estipac campus, for high school and college
students. Moreover, 98% of the students are indigenous and Huichol. They provided equipment,
materials, instruction, and support to the participants.18
I lived in Estipac, Mexico for two years, I attended a workshop there at the CRES-Estipac school
and it was very fun, I was surprised of the education provided there because Estipac is a small
town with no more than 3000 residents. When I lived there I encountered many Huicholes,
however, the women didnt know how to speak Spanish, the male Huicholes, on the contrary,
were fluent in the language.
The research I conducted about the Huicholes was indeed informative and interesting. I
knew a few things about the Huicholes, however, I learned more things about them that I never
imagined and expected to be part of their culture. Like their religious beliefs and the peyote.
Next time I travel to Mexico, I will visit them and ask them more about their culture and I will
definitely buy art from them, either in the streets of Guadalajara or at Puerto Vallarta.

17. Ibid., 78.

18. Melanie G. Davenport, and Karin Gunn, 2009, Collaboration in Animation: Working
Together to Empower Indigenous Youth, Art Education, 62, (5), National Art
EducationAssociation: 612, http://www.jstor.org.libprox1.slcc.edu/stable/20694785.

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Bibliography
Davenport, Melanie G., and Karin Gunn. 2009. Collaboration in Animation: Working Together
to Empower Indigenous Youth. Art Education 62 (5). National Art Education
Association: 612. http://www.jstor.org.libprox1.slcc.edu/stable/20694785.
Hammerschlag, Carl Allen. 2009. The Huichol Offering: A Shamanic Healing Journey.
Journal of Religion and Health 48 (2). Springer: 24658.
http://www.jstor.org.libprox1.slcc.edu/stable/20685222.
MacLean, Hope. 2000. The "deified" Heart: Huichol Indian Soul-concepts and Shamanic
Art. Anthropologica 42 (1). Canadian Anthropology Society: 7590.
doi:10.2307/25605959.
. 2001. Sacred Colors and Shamanic Vision Among the Huichol Indians of
Mexico. Journal of Anthropological Research 57 (3). University of New Mexico: 305
23. http://www.jstor.org.libprox1.slcc.edu/stable/3631425.
McIntosh, John B.. 1945. Huichol Phonemes. International Journal of American
Linguistics 11 (1). The University of Chicago Press: 3135.
http://www.jstor.org.libprox1.slcc.edu/stable/1262798.
Myerhoff, Barbara G.. 1970. The Deer-maize-peyote Symbol Complex Among the Huichol
Indians of Mexico. Anthropological Quarterly 43 (2). The George Washington
University Institute for Ethnographic Research: 6478. doi:10.2307/3316599.
Primosch, Karla, and Kathy David. 2001. Instructional Resources: Art of the Huichol People: A
Symbolic Link to an Ancient Culture. Art Education 54 (6). National Art Education
Association: 2532. doi:10.2307/3193912.