The artist women of the Wixárika or Huichol people of Mexico
Keywords:
Wixárika art, Huichol artists, Huichol worldview, shamanism, women of knowledge.Abstract
The Huichol or Wixárika people are one of the 68 original populations that make up the multicultural nation called Mexico. Various foreign and Mexican researchers have considered the Huichol or Wixaritári an artist society. At the beginning they made ritual and utilitarian objects of great plastic beauty, which during the last 70 years have not ceased to have these functions. However, currently they have also undergone a commercialization process. In this article we will present the role of the Wixárika woman, whom embroideries in textiles (embroidery and fabrics) and in beaded jewelry, the main symbols and characters inspired by myths of their worldview. To contribute with the investigation of the Huichol culture and its ritual and artistic expression, we will show some cases of Wixaritári women who are artists and are also considered women of knowledge.
Downloads
References
Anguiano Fernández, Marina, “Las manos de dios. Mujeres artistas huicholas”, entrevista en Radio INAH, acceso el 23 de octubre de 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE4CPMVoPn8.
Benítez, Fernando, Los indios de México, vol. 2 (México: Era, 1971).
Lumholtz, Carl, El arte simbólico y decorativo de los huicholes (México: INI, serie Artes y Tradiciones Populares, 3, 1986).
Lumholtz, Carl, El México desconocido, vol. II (México: INI, Clásicos de la Antropología, 11, 1981[1904]).
Nahmad Sitton, Salomón, “Artesanías coras y huicholes”, en Mitos y arte huicholes, Peter T. Furst y Salomón Nahmad (México: SEP, 172, col. SEP-Setentas, 50, 1972).
Pacheco, Gabriel ’Iritemai, Ke temiteukunierika. Los dones de Wíexu, (México: Escritores en Lenguas Indígenas / Secretaría Desarrollo Social, Narrativa, versión bilingüe huichol-español, 2007).
Schaefer, Stacy B., “Becoming a weaver: The woman’s path in Huichol culture” (disertación doctoral, University of California, Los Ángeles, 1990).
Valadez, Eger, “Mirrors of The Gods: The Huichol Shaman’s Path of The Completion”, Shaman’s Drum: A Journal of Experimental Shamanism, vol. 6 (1986), 29-39.
Zingg, Robert M., Los huicholes. Una tribu de artistas, t. II (México: INI, Clásicos de la Antropología, 12, 1982).
