Huichol Indians of Mexico
"SO SINGS THE BLUE DEER"
by Charmayne McGee
The Huichol Indians of Mexico call themselves "the healers."
Isolated high in the Sierra Madre mountains of northwestern Mexico,
these indigenous people have preserved the purest preColombian culture
in our hemisphere.
For centuries they have conducted ceremonial rituals they believe
heal the Earth and keep nature balanced.
But now the Earth is sick and dying. The lands of the Huicholes
are dying. The forests are shrinking, water is becoming scarce, the
animals are disappearing. Illness and poverty are everywhere.
The Huichol Wise Man, the Grand Shaman, knows why.
Key to their ceremonies is the love-offering of the white-tailed
deer to the Huicholes' nature deities. Due to overhunting by outsiders and the encroachment of civilization, there are no deer left in the Sierra forests. The Huicholes cannot perform their ancient rituals. Their pact with the god-spirits has been broken.
"So Sings the Blue Deer" is a novel based upon a true experience of the Huichol Indians. It is the story of their 600 mile pilgrimage
from the remote Sierra mountains into the heart of Mexico City--the
world's most populous and polluted city--to obtain 20 white-tailed
deer from the city zoo in an effort to save the Earth from
environmental devastation. With these 20 deer, the Huicholes hoped
to establish a deerbreeding project to repopulate the Sierra with
the animals, thus allowing them and future generations to once again
perform their ancient ceremonies.
"So Sings the Blue Deer" (ISBN 0-689-31888X Atheneum Books for
Children) is the outgrowth of my l7 years of living and working in Mexico as a freelance photojournalist. The Huicholes' magnificent artwork--yarn paintings, beaded masks and animals, weaving and
embroidery--first attracted me to their culture.
But it is their ecology-based philosophy of life that drew me to
write about them after they were awarded the National Ecology Prize of
Mexico for their efforts to return white-tailed deer to the Sierra.
Now the Huicholes themselves are as endangered as the deer they seek to protect. In the last few years, Mexican government development programs for indigenous peoples have been scaled back. As a result, the Indians are beset by poverty, disease and social ills. But more frightening, the Huicholes are battling a "modern day conquest." Outsiders are invading and seizing their land, the Mexican government has sought to reduce their autonomy and is now moving to negate community land ownership rights won in the Revolution of 1910. The Huicholes' traditions are under assault from missionaries, tourists, opportunists, and government agencies.
Recently Huichol pilgrims, returning from their annual pilgrimage to harvest peyote in the San Luis desert for use in their traditional ceremonies, were imprisoned by Mexican military units. Their religious artifacts and peyote harvest were confiscated. The Huicholes' right to practice indigenous religious rites is guaranteed by Mexico's constitution and United Nations' international law. Soon afterward, 15 Huicholes were arrested for hunting deer, a necesssity for completing their spiritual obligations to their nature-gods, as described in my novel, "So Sings the Blue Deer." For more details, see the WAKAN Huichol Support Page on the www.nierica.com website.
On November 10, 1998 the United Nations General Assembly declared the year 2002 to be the "International Year of Mountains." Passed by a voice vote and supported by 130 UN members, this event was a year-long celebration of mountain environments and mountain cultures. The goals were to encourage the protection and preservation of these fragile systems, while finding ways to develop sustainable mountain economies. The Huichol Indians offer an excellent example of the thousands of years of tradition and knowledge which may be lost if efforts are not made now.
Entering the new millenium, the Huicholes are guided by a religious belief system in place a thousand years ago, at the beginning of the present millenium. They recognize that a universal life force called "kupuri" flows through all nature's creations. All souls are linked. These gentle people, who teeter on the verge of cultural extinction, offer the world great wisdom as we approach the unknown future. They advise us to recognize the fragility of the Earth and be stewards for life that dwells upon it, to the seek the healing power in nature--to be of one heart with all things. Man must learn to share the tears of every living thing, to feel in his heart the pain of the wounded animal, the crushed blade of grass, they say, for:
"The earth is our flesh; the rocks, our bones;
The rivers are the blood of our veins." HUICHOL SHAMAN
 WebSpawner Page Machine |
| 'So Sings the Blue Deer' |
| Author Interview |
| The Huichol Indians |
| Huichol Culture, Art, Symbols |
| What We Learn from the Huichol |
Send E-Mail to: clmcgee@hotmail.comCopyright © 2009 Charmayne McGee. All Rights Reserved