Huichol / Ramón Medina [and eighteen others].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Medina, Ramón, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Huichol Indians.

Civilization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New Haven, Conn. : Human Relations Area Files, 2003.

Summary:

This collection of 25 documents is about the Huichol Indians, an Uto-Aztecan speaking Mexican Indian group located in the southern Sierra Madre Occidental (northern Jalisco and eastern Nayarit, and adjacent areas of Zacatecas and Durango states) in Mexico. Time coverage of the documents ranges from first significant contact with Spanish conquerors in the 1720s to the early 2000s. Much of the data were collected through ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the last decade of the nineteenth century and first of the twentieth, the early 1930s, the mid 1950s, the late 1960s, and, most recently, from 1980 into the early 1990s. The earliest ethnographic information in the collection was compiled by a Norwegian anthropologist who visited the Huichol at different times in 1894-1897 as part of a larger project by the American Museum of Natural History to investigate the native peoples of Mexico (Lumholtz 1898, and 1973 [1902]). Together, these documents provide a systematic description of Huichol culture and society with particular emphasis on settlement pattern, physical attributes of the people, religious life and organized ceremonies, diet, clothing, sacred objects, economic activities, and folklore. The most fundamental and comprehensive source in the collection is Zingg. Drawing on original research conducted in 1934 and relevant data from the works of Lumholtz, this book describes Huichol culture as a system of thought, belief, and behavior. Specific themes covered include the place of religion in household relations and community life, mythology, organized ceremonies, sacred arts and symbolic representation, spirituality, acculturation, and economic life. Klineberg provides some notes on emotional expression and related behaviors of Huichol men, women and children observed by the author in a 1933 field trip. Myerhoff discusses the significance of myths, rituals, and symbols, particularly those pertaining to the sacred unity of deer, maize, and peyote in Huichol culture and society. The discussion includes intimate accounts of her own participation in an organized "peyote pilgrimage" to a high desert believed to be the original homeland of Huichol deities and founding ancestors. The collection includes other documents that expand upon the theme of continuity in traditional Huichol religion. Furst (1967) provides analysis of burial practices and healing rituals in which guardian spirits and ancestral souls are personified and appealed to. Schaefer (1989) and MacLean discuss Huichol mythologies related to the origins of weaving technology, embroidery and paintings. Liffman examines concepts of the sacred, with particular focus on genealogical and social bonds constructed during pilgrimage along divine ancestral migration paths. Weigand outlines some of the major historical trends that have affected and continue to affect Huichol acculturation. Ten chapters from the volume, People of the Peyote, (Schaefer and Furst, eds., 1996), addressing the challenges and dynamism of contemporary Huichol culture and identity politics, are authored by researchers active during the latter half of the twentieth century: Casillas Romo and Chávez; Franz; Furst; Lamaistre; Schaefer ("The cosmos contained" and "The crossing of the souls"); Shaefer and Furst ("Introduction"); Silva; Valadez; and Yasumoto. A separate glossary and bibliography are provided. Topics covered in the chapters include gender, religion, healing and ceremonial practices, peyotism and meaning, culture change, and relations with the Mexican state.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.