Huichol Handicrafts: Dazzling Mexican Folk Art
Tara A. Spears
The highly creative Huichol are one of the most recognizable groups of Mexican indigenous people. Within the last twenty years the Huichol folkart has garnered worldwide acclaim and is fast becoming collectable art. Most shops and outdoor markets (tianguis) along the Pacific Coast offer beautiful hand embroidered clothing and purses in vibrant colors. In addition, the stunning Huichol yarn art is loaded with traditional symbolism and spiritual motifs. But, it is the dazzling Huichol bead sculptures that leave the viewer breathless.
This tribe lives predominantly in the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains that runs through the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco and Durango. Although numbering only about twenty thousand, these Aztec descendants have survived centuries of persecution and encroachment from dominant civilization by clinging to their beliefs and traditions. Their language is called Wirrarika, meaning medicine man.
A major Huichol belief is that it is the shaman who links the community with the “other world”; another tenet of their culture is that peyote be used in their religious ceremonies. Huichol believe their creativity pours forth as a gift from their deified ancestors and that they must give back art as offerings to the gods.
Although the sale of artwork is a way of surviving, Huichol art is deeply symbolic, and nierikas— bead or yarn work “votive paintings” — are petitions to the gods. Maize, peyote and deer are usually present, as well as candles, arrows, serpents, scorpions and the gods’ eyes that point to the four cardinal directions. Another traditional Huichol theme expresses finding one’s path in life by connecting with the powers of nature – which is very important to the Huichol.
Their colorful beadwork and yarn work reflects a reverent and symbiotic relationship with nature. Because the Huichol believe God has given them everything, including their talents and abilities, pilgrimages are made every year by individuals and families to the sacred land of Wirikuta to hunt the Blue Deer (peyote). They bring with them offerings in return for the gift of making art and entering the priesthood. The ceremonial offerings include pictures, masks and candles and are considered material forms of prayer.
A slice of peyote will be given to each of the “peyoteros” who will then have their own personal visions. Celebrants will then be able to talk to God, receive instructions about how to proceed and will, thereafter, sing, cure, or create.
This moment of the sharing of the peyote is the fulfillment of the highest goals in Huichol religious life. They have traveled to paradise, transformed themselves into deities, communed with the gods with whom they don’t stay long, and then return as mortals.
From the ecstasy of that experience the artwork of the people is born. In the Huichol culture, there can be no art without religion or religion without art. Religion is not a part of life- It is life. The gods are everywhere including the trees, hills and lakes. Even the lowly stone has a soul. These intensely religious people immerse themselves throughout their lives in this awareness through ritual and the execution of sacred symbols.
Art is the people’s means of direct communication with the deities. It is meant to ensure prosperity, health and fertility, and bountiful crops. Creating art promotes the general welfare of the community and is always functional as well as beautiful.
Huichol artwork, so vibrant in color and rich in symbolism, effortlessly draws the viewer into its compelling world of magic and myth. This unique folk art enhances any home and also makes a lovely gift.