WIXARIKA CULTURE

The Wixarika culture originates and is located in the western part of the Sierra Madre Occidental, in Jalisco, Nayarit and part of Durango and Zacatecas. They have kept their ethnicity in spite of the Spanish Conquest and have been able to remain with their original customs, traditions, dances, rituals and art. In their main form of artistic expression their religious beliefs are clearly reflected; features among which stand up are the figures of corn, deer and peyote for their great importance and significance to their religion which are imprinted in a great variety of crafts that vary from small bowls embedded with tiny beads used to make offerings to their gods, to embroidered clothing and jewelry. 

Farming, fishing and hunting are their main productive activities; which includes corn, squash, beans and chili as their most important crops and which are incorporated into their daily diet. A pilgrimage is performed to Wirikuta the land of the peyote considered as a sacred place where the Gods dwell in Real de Catorce. 

This tradition is being compromised due to mining companies and deforestation, which is ending with their main productive activities and their natural environment.

Wixarica craft