Interest in the Huichol culture preceded Cuchama's interest in the art form of yarn painting. Susana Valadez, self-identified "humanthropologist," had just curated the ground-breaking show on Huichol tradition, religion and art, Mirrors of the Gods, at the San Diego Museum of Man. Cuchama returned again and again to marvel at the exquisite and intricate detail of color and design present in every aspect of Huichol life. After hearing a radio interview of Susana describing her interaction with the Huichol, Cuchama contacted her and over an enchilada dinner at home, the friendship was forged. Susana had published extensively on Huichol topics and began to share her knowledge and experience with Cuchama.

 

The Huichol Indians are one of the few tribes of Mexico that came through the colonization period relatively untouched by Catholicism. They did, however, provide a home for those Indians of other tribes who managed to escape from Spanish slavery. Retreating far into the Sierra, they escaped the loss of their pre-Colombian way of life. Huichol life and religion are inseparable. The religion recognizes a pantheon of deities, many associated with specific sites. The sacred five directions includes the center. In the center is our Grandfather Fire, Tatewari, both the literal and metaphorical energy of the individual and the universe. Tacutse Nakawe, our Grandmother Growth, once walked in human form. When her labors to found the earth were finished, her body fell to pieces, each piece forming new plants and animals to feed our life. These major deities help to balance the male and female energies around them.
  

The spiritual life and the acquisition of shamanistic power is available to the Huichol pilgrim willing to undertake the often arduous path of completion. Completion is a process of life work that includes personal vows to the deities, pilgrimages to their sacred sites, sacrifice such as dietary restrictions and sexual abstinence. These activities are all centered around the acquisition and ceremonial ingestion of hikiri, peyote, venerated as the tracks of the blue spirit deer Kauyumarie. The path of completion is difficult, requiring years, often decades, of intent and personal sacrifice. Those who undertake this spiritual path may be rewarded with great powers in diverse fields. Such a shaman or mara'akame may excel in healing, governance, music or art.
 

 
 
The peyote visionary experience is considered a gift from the gods, a reward to those who have conducted themselves well, divine illumination for those the gods deem worthy. In the beginning, the gods, themselves ate the hikiri and carry it still in their hearts. The peyote way is the path to completion, the key to leading a fulfilling life as a Huichol. Susana writes, "[the work of] completion can be thought of as the bargaining tool the Huichol use to keep the gods happy and benevolent."

 
The earliest roots of yarn painting could have been nearikas, round objects made from clay, gourd tops, wood, paper or fibers with bead or wax figures stuck on. Nearikas are used as offerings as well as power instruments. These round objects are made with attachments that symbolize a particular deity. To commemorate a five-year completion period with that deity, the nearika is taken to the "home" of that deity and left as an offering. The pilgrim who leaves the offering may pick up a nearika left by another, and, blessed by the god, this becomes a power object. These ceremonial objects frequently use fibers stuck on with wax and pine pitch. It is easy to see how the relatively new art form of yarn painting could have evolved from this practice.
 

As with all Huichol art forms, yarn painting has spiritual roots. Cuchama's involvement with the medium dances with the sacred in reverence and respect for her Huichol brothers and sisters who shared this important aspect of their lives with her. She has continued to evolve the art form mixing fibers and beads in both 2 and 3-dimensional creations.

  THE MOUNTAIN | ABOUT THE HUICHOL

Email: info@chuchama.com