Antiquely, the only star that illuminated the world was the Moon. The elders, the wise, and the shamans asked her to send her only son to Earth. At first, the Moon refused, but later she agreed: a lame boy with only one eye arrived in the world. He was immediately dressed in warrior and ceremonial clothing (bow in hand and face painted) to be thrown into the fire and offered as a sacrifice. To the surprise of the entire tribe, the boy resurrected!, ran beneath the Earth, and five days after his death, the Sun appeared. This is one of the most important ancestral legends of the Huichol culture, the creation of light.
The tribe that inhabits the Sierra Madre Occidental is one of the few that survived Spanish domination. Faced with the advance of foreign troops, the men and women, then owners of the mountains of Jalisco, ran among them and, taking advantage of their knowledge of nature, found refuge in every corner, spring, and cave.
Currently, there is no other indigenous group in Mexico that so solidly preserves its traditions, beliefs, and way of life. This culture has managed to resist the passage of time and is today one of the most living manifestations of the pre-Hispanic past in the world.
With so much tradition and history, on your trip to Vallarta, you cannot miss visiting the Huichol Art Museum, a true repertoire of this millenary culture. The artistic expressions of this fascinating tribe are directly related to the beyond, the underworld, and the divine. The shamans of the tribes could access, through dreams, this parallel universe inaccessible to everyone else. When they did, they fought epic battles in the supernatural realm, with the objective of resolving worldly or divine matters. All these customs are manifested in each handicraft, such as:
- Prayer arrows or urus, designed to be launched to the sky to make a request.
- Fabric bags to spiritually protect the wearer.
- Kukas, masks used in ceremonies decorated with bones, colored beads, shells, corals, and seeds. Those embroidered with colored beads are the most striking!
- Nearikas, or wooden boards decorated with colorful designs (suns, moons, oceans, squirrels, etc.); these were the basis for the modern yarn paintings.
This cultural space, which houses a historical heritage of immeasurable value, opens its doors from Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. There, you can not only find all these handicrafts, but you will also have the opportunity to understand their origin and meaning. If you want to take a souvenir object, you can do so as many of them are for sale.
Enjoy encountering, face-to-face, one of the most resilient pre-Hispanic cultures in Mexico‘s history. Share their rituals, discover their homes, and take home a souvenir from their sacred craft. Travel back in time, return to the ancestral, and visit Puerto Vallarta!
Portuguese Versión: Museu de Arte Huichóis: descubra esse famoso arte indiana em sua viagem por Vallarta
