Wixaritari Indigenous Art and Religion
One of the greatest pleasures for art lovers visiting Mexico is the indigenous art that influences modern Mexican design and can be found throughout the country. In the states of Jalisco and Nayarit, the dominant indigenous group is the Wixaritari, and you can buy their intricate beadwork and embroidery directly from the makers as well as from stylish urban boutiques. IdealThread artist, Leocadia Xitawima Reza López, can often be found selling her beaded jewelry in the Basilica Plaza in Zapopan.
Huichol or Wixaritari? Why does it matter?
If you aren’t familiar with the term Wixaritari, you might know them by the name the colonizers gave them, Huichol. While both names are currently used (Huichol remains common with older organizations), use of their own native name is preferred and is growing, along with a greater global appreciation for indigenous cultures.
Art and Religion
Religion is the foundation of the Wixaritari’s pre-Columbian shamanic culture and is embedded in every aspect of their life, including art. The Wixaritari didn’t have a written language until relatively recently, and art was the most important medium for communicating religious tenets and experiences. Their beautiful creations carry powerful messages about their core belief, that all beings are interconnected and must strive to live in harmony.
This is true even in the pieces they sell to outsiders, such as “psychedelic” yarn paintings, embroidery, beadwork and cuchuries (woven or embroidered bags). Motifs of sacred plants and animals symbolize beliefs and are depicted in bright colors that allude to the visual hallucinations brought by the sacred peyote used in certain ceremonies. Colors are believed to have healing and transformative powers and each has a specific meaning and purpose.
Grandfather Deer and Hikuri (the peyote cactus) are frequently represented. Grandfather Deer helps shamans on their spiritual journeys and symbolizes the need to live in harmony while Hikuri (the Peyote cactus) is a deity that exists beyond categories of plant or animal and outside space and time.
Peyote Pilgrimmage
Each year some Wixaritari make a pilgrimage back to their ancestral homeland (San Luis Potosi) to perform sacred ceremonies of self-purification and gratitude for the ancestors and Gods. Consuming Peyote is an essential part of the pilgrimage, bringing the visions and openness needed to strengthen the Wixaritari’s connection to all peoples, plants and animals.
Life and Politics
Wixátari live primarily in the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountain range in the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango with settlements in the U.S. in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, as well. In their traditional ranchos, nuclear families live in individual homes built next to those of extended family members, and they share a kitchen and an ancestral shrine.
Wixaritari have been slowly gaining greater autonomy in Mexico. They currently live under a dual system in which "Municipal Agents" represent larger settlements to the Mexican Government while each district is also ruled by a council of elder Wixaritari men who are usually also shamans.
Wixaritari are working with several organizations to preserve their lands from environmental threats such as mining sanctioned by the Mexican government. Nonprofits, such as Casa de Salud Huichol, have also been formed with Wixaritari to provide access to healthcare services that are not available in the rugged mountains where they traditionally live. https://casadesaludhuichol.org/
Please Note: This is just a snapshot. We can’t do justice to the complexities of Wixaritari culture and the difficult issues they face maintaining their culture in modern Mexico. We encourage you to explore the links below to learn more.
More on the Wixarika:
You can see a documentary about the Wixaritari’s fight to preserve their culture and sacred lands on Vimeo, “Huicholes, los Ultimos Guardianes del Peyote” In Spanish https://huicholesfilm.com/en/ and English https://huicholesfilm.com/es/ .
More information on Wixaritari art and culture.
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/wixaritari-today
https://themexicanhandicrafts.com/huichol-art/huichol-deer-symbol/
https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/huichol
https://www.mexconnect.com/articles/3262-huichol-art-a-matter-of-survival-i-origins/