“…its just that we have people there”. Ritual and funerary caves among the O’ob / Oichkama of Sonora and Chihuahua

Abstract

This text acknowledges the importance of the cultural identity of the ethnic group known as O’ob or Pima people. They inhabit a territory within the sierra (mountain range) that exists between the mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua, where caves with graphic–rupestrian and funerary manifestations are located. These sites, of great anthropological significance, have been affected by invasion and desacralization. Based on dialogue between members of this community and archaeologists and anthropologists, we recount the problems and tribulations this culture faces to survive.