Huichol Indians

Huichol
(Wixárita, Durango)

Huichol women and children
Regions with significant populations
Mexico (states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, Durango)
Languages
Huichol, Spanish
Religion
Shamanism, Animism, Peyotism, Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Cora, Tepehuán, Tarahumara

The Huichol or Wixáritari (Huichol pronunciation: /wiˈraɾitaɾi/) are Native Americans, living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango. They are best known to the larger world as the Huichol, however, they refer to themselves as Wixáritari ("the people") in their native Huichol language. The adjectival form of Wixáritari and name for their own language is Wixárika.

The Huichol say that they originated in the state of San Luis Potosí. Once yearly, some Huichol journey back to San Luís, their ancestral homeland to perform "Mitote" Peyote (Hikuri, in Wixarika) ceremonies. "This ancient tribe is located deep in the mountains of central Mexico...have lived here for at least 15,000 years according to carbon dating of the ashes from their sacred fireplaces."

The three main Huichol communities belong to the municipality of Mezquitic, Jalisco and are called San Sebastián Teponohuastlan (Wautüa in Huichol), Santa María Cuexcomatitlán (Tuapuri in Huichol) and San Andrés Cohamiata (Tatei Kié in Huichol). Other Wixarika communities include Guadalupe Ocotán (in Nayarit), and Santa Catarina and Tuxpán de Bolaños in Jalisco. However, only around 7,000 Wixáritari live in their homeland while some 13,000 have migrated to other places within Nayarit, and other still live in La Sierra de La Yesca.

The Wixárika arrived in the Bolaños Canyon region after the arrival of the Tepehuanes. There are numerous theories among anthropologists and historians about the timing of the arrival of this ethnic group in the region, but according to Wixárika oral history, when they arrived in the region they currently consider home, the region was already inhabited by another ethnic group. Tepecano oral history also confirms that villages currently inhabited by Wixárika, such as Santa Catarina, were Tepecano villages in the past. In addition, there exist no stories of conquest or domination of the Wixárika by the Tepecanos in either of the oral histories of the respective ethnic groups. The most commonly accepted theory regarding the origin of Wixárika is that they come from the region of San Luis Potosí and that before their migration to the Bolaños Canyon region, they considered themselves part of the Guachichil ethnic group. Central to the traditional religion of the Wixárika is the gathering of hikuri (a hallucinogenic cactus) in the place that they call Wirikuta, that is located in the region of Real de Catorce in the state of San Luis Potosí. Hikuri does not grow in the region of Wixárika, but it is abundant in San Luis Potosí, territory that was at the center of the dominion of the Guachichiles before the arrival of the Spaniards. The Guachichiles were known to be bellicose and fiercely defensive of their territory. It is unlikely that the Guachichiles would have let the Wixárika pass peacefully through their territory to gather peyote unless they recognized them as part of their own ethnic group. This is confirmed by oral history of Wixárika, as well as the similarity between the language of Wixárika, which is more like the language of the already extinct language of the Guachichiles than to that of their present neighbors, the Cora.