Yarn paintings

Huichol yarn painting is a traditional artistic technique that is used for recording dreams, visions, myths, and the innermost personal prayers of the artists. Because the Huichol language is non-written, these story boards are used to express the beauty and wisdom of the ancient Huichol cultural tradition. Huichol artists can be thought of as modern day scribes.

The Huichols use smaller version of these paintings as offerings to the many gods and goddesses that reign over their isolated homeland in the Sierra Madre mountain range in Mexico.

Yarn paintings originate from votive objects the Huichols create as ceremonial offerings. The small wax and yarn votive objects are made as prayers to depict the desires of the people and their families. After the ceremonies they are taken to far off sacred places and left for the gods and goddesses.

The larger paintings, made by Huichol artists for sale, utilize the same technique for placing strands of yarn onto a thin surface of beeswax mixed with pine resin that has been spread onto a wooden board. It is a meticulous and time consuming art form that may be a successor to the featherworking techniques of the Huichol ancestors, the Aztecs.

African tribal influences?

When most people think about Mexico they never think about Africa, or natives of African descent. However there are areas in Mexico that have a large black population.

Black heritage in Mexico is not only isolated to Veracruz and Costa Chica. In the 1500 Spaniards brought Africans into Mexico because the Indians were dying. By the mid-1600, there were more than 15000 blacks and mulattos in Mexico. The races in Mexico mixed, thus making Mexico a nation of mestizos (mixed peoples).

 This work of art showing a Huichol indian playing a drum has something African about it, it almost looks like it has been influenced by African tribal art. A reliquary figure covered with beads and Huichol symbolism.

Yarn paintings

Huichol yarn painting is a traditional artistic technique that is used for recording dreams, visions, myths, and the innermost personal prayers of the artists. Because the Huichol language is non-written, these story boards are used to express the beauty and wisdom of the ancient Huichol cultural tradition. Huichol artists can be thought of as modern day scribes.

Click here to see more Huichol yarn paintings.

Hundreds of Mexico’s Huichol Indians trek to their sacred ground seeking to stop silver mine

REAL DE CATORCE, Mexico — Huichol Indians believe the sun was born in a spot high in the arid Sierra de Catorce mountain range of northern Mexico.

For them, that spot — the Cerro del Quemado, or the Burned Mountain — is the center of the universe, a sacred ground.

 ( Christian Palma / Associated Press ) – this photo taken on Monday Feb. 6, 2012, Huichol Indians walk to the sacred Cerro del Quemado, or the Burned Mountain, on the Wirikuta reserve near Real de Catorce, Mexico. The Huichol Indians made the seven day walk as part of an annual pilgrimage to the site they consider the center of the universe and where the sun was born. This year they are asking their deities to guide them as they try to stop a $100 million mining project that is part of a mining concession granted to Canada-based First Majestic Silver Corp. The reserve is one of UNESCO’s World Network of Natural Sacred Sites and the Huichols beleive the project would devastate their cultural and religious heritage.

 

It’s also part of a mining concession Mexico’s government granted to Canada-based First Majestic Silver Corp., and Huichols are fighting to block the project.