The Huichol Indians of Mexico

(In my view)

Bead work

Just about a week ago, I went to the Huichol enclave of these renowned Mexican Indians, the place is the town of Santiago Ixcuintla roughly 45 miles North- East of San Blas in the State of Nayarit (Mexico). In this town, of about 5000 thousand people, are one exhibit after another of their artistic talent, they have tile and glass murals through the town that are magnificent expressions of their art, depicting the struggles of their life and their culture.

City of Santiago Ixcuintla Murals

They have mastered some ways of creating extraordinary sculptures covered with colored beads and thread. Trying to explain them to you will be a very challenging task for me, I will, instead, show you a few of their masterpieces that I photographed and only a few because…. I was not supposed to be taking any pictures of them or their pieces on display (so I sneak some of them, sorry!)

The Huichol Indians of Mexico call themselves "the healers." Secluded high in the Sierra Madre Mountains of northwestern Mexico, these indigenous people have preserved the purest pre-Columbian 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, and the animals are disappearing, I can testify to this because were they live now in the town of Santiago Ixcluintla and the surrounding lands are almost a complete desert. Illness and poverty are all over the place. The Huichol Wise Man, the Grand Shaman, knows why…. Maybe! I personally hope so because these people are really very talented artists.
The Huicholes embroider their clothing with the symbols of nature which offer them strength and life: the flower, a prayer for rain; the deer, a request for love and bounty of their nature-deities; the scorpion, to ask their protection.

HUITCHOL AT WORK
LADIE HUICHOL

The genesis of the Huicholes are debated. Some believe they were nomadic wanderers recently arrived to the Sierra. Others embrace the theory that they are a branch of the same family as the Aztecs, both having migrated from their original island homeland near the Pacific coast. The Huicholes themselves say they migrated north from the Valley of Mexico and were forced to take refuge in the Sierra hundreds of years ago by warring Indian tribes

To learn more about the Huicholes and their world, please visit: http://www.spring.net/~wmmeyers/huichp01.html.

These are very, very talented people and little by little are getting extinct, I guess one of the reasons is the shrinking of their environment and the assimilation of their young into the more modern Mexican society, I wish that people as talented as they never have to disappear of the face of this heart of ours….now…. so you know.…all this is.... in my view only…!

"El Quelite"

The enchanting “El Quelite”


About 30 miles northeast of Mazatlan lay the picturesque colonial pueblito of El Quelite. The lovely streets of this village are invitingly strollable and litter-free, mostly cobbled and lined with subtropical trees, shrubs, and colorful flowers spilling onto the sidewalks. Most of the houses boast beautiful plants adorning their front yards.

Plaza Gazebo

Old house with cactus on tile roof

Side street house with large Australian ferns

Colorful street

Framed by the Pacific Ocean, the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains and the El Quelite River, the town has the qualities of a living museum of historic architecture and a lifestyle not so far removed from its Spanish colonial past. Lots of revolutionary history was created in this unique little town it’s really like a walk through history. Some of the houses display information plaques that tell you of the past history.

Front yard flowers

Awash in color, the houses are painted bright hues of yellow, green, red, the complete rainbow, and because I talk to the people (I’m not to shy and speak the language) and I was told by them that even before the town become a touristic attraction, the (very proud) people of the town spruced up their houses like you can see them now, really colorful and beautiful.
Colorful house

This town is so lovely that it inspired Francisco Terriquez (famous Mexican song writer) to write the famous Mexican folk song,” Que Bonito es El Quelite” (How Beautiful is El Quelite), which is well known throughout Latin America, and can be heard playing regularly throughout the town, a demonstration of how proud the 2,000 people who call this pueblito home are of their village. In this trip to El Quelite we had breakfast in a very charming restaurant, The Meson of the Laureanos, The owner of the place is Dr. Ozuna, he was born en El Quelite and come back after his schooling to spend the rest of his life with his family in this charming pueblito. Dr. Ozuna, in a conversation relate to me, that he feels like having an umbilical cord attachment to the township so he does everything possible for the town and the area in general to flourish and be recognizable as a “Pueblo Magico”. This distinct restaurant is housed in the birth place of the first combatant and leader of the Mexican Revolution from the Sinaloa area.

"Lola" the restaurant parrot

The place is very nicely designed, from the superb murals that adorn a number of the indoor walls depicting the struggles of the town people in their fight for the independence of Mexico, to the open court yard effect with a vast variety of tropical plants and its very own “Lola” the large talking Parrot. Restaurant court yard

Fighting cock

The tables are dressed up in colorful table cloths and the serving ware is of ceramic specially made for them in the town by local artists, the attendants at this restaurant are the friendliest especially Erick , a very nice young man. Everything they serve in this (and everything they serve is mouth-watering) special place, the ingredients are made or cultivated in the town or its vicinity.

El Quelite is known all over in Mexico as the biggest and greatest producers of “Gallos de Rina” fighting cocks. In Mexico is a very common and partially legal sport, special places are build to do the fighting and some of them are very sophisticated to the point to engaged very famous artists, singers, bands, etc to perform before and during the event, these places are called Palenques and in them lots of money changes hands.
El Quelite has the largest fighting cocks farm in Mexico, they have approximately 3000 animals at all times, to day, I had the pleasure of seeing this very place where splendid birds with a wonderful display of plumage colors, from brilliant red to snow white and everything in the middle, such a spectacular display of colors is extremely difficult for this writer to describe, so, I will insert some pictures so you can appreciate for yourselves these striking animals.

Side street house porch (note the beautiful fern)

One of the oldest houses in town

The majority of the town houses are very, very old, most of them build in the middle 18 century, their colorful red ceramic tile roof are amazing to see, mostly because some are so old that cactus plants are growing on top of them, and not one or two but many of them.

All of the town houses have been decorated in vibrant colors creating a enjoyable landscape, that, and the friendliness of the people, plus an old time bakery with a real mud oven that bakes delightful pastries and bread, make up this charming little place so alluring to me, I guess, I do not have to tell you, El Quelite, is one of my very dearly loved colonial towns in Mexico. But remember I’m kind of biased to it and…. It is only in my view…………