Carlos Castaneda

ANTHROPOLOGISTS OF THE WORLD 

Carlos Castaneda (1925 - 1998) 

Carlos (César Salvador Arana) Castaneda (anglicized from Castañeda; 25 December 1925 – 27 April 1998) was a Peruvian-born American anthropologist and author.

Starting with The Teachings of Don Juan in 1968, Castaneda wrote a series of books that describe his training in sorcery. The books, narrated in the first person, relate his experiences under the tutelage of a Yaqui "Man of Knowledge" named don Juan Matus. His 12 books have sold more than 8 million copies in 17 languages. Critics have suggested that they are works of fiction; supporters claim the books are either true or at least valuable works of philosophy and descriptions of practices which enable an increased awareness.

Castaneda withdrew from public view in 1973 to work further on his inner development, living in a large house with three women ("Fellow Travellers of Awareness") who were ready to cut their ties to family and changed their names. He founded Cleargreen, an organization that promoted tensegrity, purportedly a traditional Toltec regimen of spiritually powerful exercises.

His works 

Castaneda's first three books — The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge; A Separate Reality; and Journey to Ixtlan — were written while Castaneda was an anthropology student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He wrote these books as his research log describing his apprenticeship with a traditional "Man of Knowledge" identified as don Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian from northern Mexico. Castaneda was awarded his bachelor's and doctoral degrees based on the work described in these books. He also says the sorcerer bequeathed him the position of nagual, or leader of a party of seers. He also used the term nagual to signify that part of perception which is in the realm of the unknown yet still reachable by man, implying that, for his party of seers, Don Juan was a connection in some way to that unknown. Castaneda often referred to this unknown realm as nonordinary reality, which indicated that this realm was indeed a reality, but radically different from the ordinary reality experienced by human beings.

The term nagual has been used by anthropologists to mean a shaman or sorcerer who is believed capable of shapeshifting into an animal form, or to metaphorically "shift" into another form through magic rituals, shamanism and experiences with psychoactive drugs (e.g., peyote and jimson weed - Datura stramonium).

In 1974 his fourth book, Tales of Power, was published. This book ended with Castaneda leaping from a cliff into an abyss, and signaled the end of his apprenticeship under the tutelage of Matus. Castaneda continued to be popular with the reading public with subsequent publications.

© Text and photo: Wikipedia

Tarahumaran Tesgüino

WORLD RECIPES 

Tesgüino is a corn beer made by the Tarahumara Indians of Sierra Madre in Mexico. The Tarahumara regard the beer as sacred, and it forms a significant part of their society. Anthropologist John Kennedy reports that "the average Tarahumara spends at least 100 days per year directly concerned with tesgüino and much of this time under its influence or aftereffects".

The general Tarahumara term for an alcoholic beverage is "Sugíki"; "batári" is used when the beer is specifically made from corn or lichen flour; "paciki" is used when the beer is made from fresh corn stalks. While tesgüino made from corn is considered the most sacred, the Tarahumara also make beer from agave and wheat, as well as other alcoholic beverages made from fruits such as peaches, berries, crab apples, cactus fruits, and Mesquite seeds.

From the NPR Radio Programme:

Listen to it: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4532569

For the Tarahumara, the astringent, homemade corn beer is a sacred social lubricant — and during Easter week, or "semana santa," the entire town of Norogachi turns into a giant brewpub. Corn kernels are soaked, ground up, boiled and spiked with a local grass to help the mixture ferment.

The Tarahumara (who refer to themselves as the Raramuri) are a linguistic group of 120,000 who share a common language and have preserved their culture through isolation and resistance. For them, beer is an elixir for healing, a barter item and a divine beverage.

"God taught the Raramuri how to make corn beer," says Guadalupe Espino Palma, the traditional governor of the Norogachi district. "We make offerings of tesguino to God himself, and He drinks it also. We use tesguino for dancing, and we enjoy drinking it." Even getting drunk is a spiritual act, he explains.

Bill Merrill, a Smithsonian Institution anthropologist who's spent 30 years studying and working with the Tarahumara, says the tesguino chases out the "large souls" within, leaving only the "little souls." "And so when people get drunk that's why they act like children," he says, "Because the souls that are controlling their actions are the little souls, like little children."

The Raramuri also believe they are God's chosen people, and that their mountain home is the center of the world. In their colorful parades and festivals, they freely use Christian iconography to represent the struggle between the Raramuri and the outside world.

Still, the outside world is slowly creeping into traditional life — looking for work in the cities, modern comforts can be seductive. "It's easier to get drunk on a couple of beers or a bottle of tequila than to make tesguino and share it with everyone," says Carlos Palma Batista, director of the Raramuri Education Initiative, a Ford Foundation project to help preserve native language and knowledge.

The Easter celebrations of the Raramuri are a big draw for tourists. By custom, participants will drink, dance, drum and carouse for as long as the tesguino holds out, whether two days or two weeks. Spring planting will wait.

And during this corn beer communion, in place of "happy Easter," the Raramuri will say to one another "bosasa" — "fill up, be satisfied, be contented."

Ingredients:

• 8 quarts water
• 1 pound germinated corn
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 8 whole allspice or cloves
• ale yeast

How to prepare it:

To germinate corn, soak 2 pounds of corn in cold water for 24 hours, then transfer it to a colander for germination. Spray cold water on the corn and turn it in the colander twice a day to prevent it from drying out or getting moldy. Within 5 days, the corn should have germinated to the point that sprouts have reached 2 inches in length. When they do, remove the corn from the colander and allow it to dry in the sun or in the oven on its lowest setting.

Crush the corn coarsely then place it in the brewpot with the water and let it sit for 1 hour.

Bring the wort to a boil, then add the sugar.

Reduce the heat and allow the wort to simmer for 3 hours stirring regularly.

Add the spices at the and of the boil and allow the wort to sit for 1 hour.

Strain the wort into a fermenter once cool and pitch the yeast.

Ferment at 65º-70ºF for 5 days, then rack to a secondary and allow to ferment for 2 more weeks.

Bottle with 1 teaspoon corn sugar per bottle for priming and allow to condition for 2 weeks before drinking.

© Text and image: www.npr.org, Wikipedia, Stephen Harrod Buhner's "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers" (Siris Books, 1998)

Maya

EXHIBITION

Name: Maya, from dawn to dusk, National collections of Guatemala

Dates: 6^th June to 2^nd October 2011

Opening times: tuesday, wednesday and sunday : 11am . 7pm, thursday, friday, saturday : 11am . 9pm

Place: Quai Branly Museum, 37, quai Branly, Paris (France)

Entrance fee: 8,5 €

Webpage: www.quaibranly.fr

Through the presentation of more than 160 exceptional objects belonging to the National Heritage of Guatemala – painted ceramics, steles, cut semiprecious stones, funerary objects, architectural remains, ornaments, etc. – the exhibition retraces the development of Maya civilization, its rise and decline before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in 1524 C.E., with a chronological visit distinguishing the pre-classical, classical, and post-classical periods.
In order to present the public with a wider and more complex conception of Maya culture, the chosen objects come from three large regions of Guatemala: the highlands, the lowlands, and the Pacific coast.
The exhibition also presents the discoveries made at multiple sites recently studied, such as El Mirador, at the head of a group of fi ve sites selected in 2002 by the Guatemalan government for nomination on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List. This latest research allows for the presentation to the visitor of a greater and more complex conception of Maya culture. The exhibition ends with a more contemporary section integrating multimedia and photographs, permitting the transmission of a broad view of ancient and contemporary Maya culture, and creating a link between past and present.

© Text and image: Quai Branly

Mexican pinole

WORLD RECIPES 

Pinole is a Spanish translation of an Aztec word for a coarse flour made from ground toasted maize kernels, often in a mixture with a variety of herbs and ground seeds, which can be eaten by itself or be used as the base for a beverage. In southeastern Mexico and in Central America this food and beverage is known as pinol or pinolillo, considered the national beverage of Nicaragua.

Herbs and flavorings added to pinole include ground mustard seeds, ground chia seeds, ground cacao, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, achiote, and other grasses and annual herbs. The mixture is sometimes beaten with water to make a hot or cold beverage (also called pinole), or sometimes cooked with water to make an edible mush.

In parts of central Mexico, groups of rowdy youths traditionally went from house to house during Carnival to demand pinole, which they were served without water (and frequently mixed with Chili pepper to make it even more difficult to swallow). This custom may have given rise to the popular saying, El que tiene más saliva, traga más pinole ("Whoever has the most saliva, swallows the most pinole"; in other words, whoever has the most skill for a particular job will accomplish the most).

Pinole describes any of a variety of forms of parched or roasted corn, ground into a flour and combined with water and some spices or sugar. It can be made into a drink, an oatmeal-like paste, or baked to form a more-portable "cake."

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cornmeal, ground as fine as possible
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar, honey, or agave nectar
• chia seeds (optional)

How to prepare it:

Toast the cornmeal in a skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until it turns light brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, mix in cinnamon, and sweetener or other spices, and desired amount of water.

If you add just a few tablespoons of water instead and mix, you get an oatmeal-like consistency that can be eaten with a spoon. Alternatively, you can bake the paste at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes until it has the texture of a brownie.

© Text and image: Matt Frazier (www.nomeatathlete.com)

The Yaqui of Mexico

PEOPLES OF THE WORLD 

Name: Yaqui (or Yoreme) 

Living Area: Sonora State (Mexico), and Arizona State (USA) 

Population: approx. 23.000 

Language: Yaqui 

Comments:    

The Yaqui or Yoreme are a Native American tribe who originally lived in the valley of the Río Yaqui in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. Many Yaqui still live in their original homeland, but some live in Arizona as a result of wars between the Yaqui and the Mexican government. The Yaqui call themselves Yoreme, the Yaqui word for person (yoemem or yo'emem meaning "people"). Their language is one of 30 in the Uto-Aztecan family. The Yaqui call their homeland Hiakim, from which the name "Yaqui" is derived. They may also describe themselves as Hiaki Nation or Pascua Hiaki, meaning "The Easter People", as most had converted to Catholicism under Jesuit influence in colonial Mexico.

In the past, the Yaqui subsisted on agriculture, growing corn, beans, and squash (like many of the natives of the region). The Yaqui who lived in the Río Yaqui region and in coastal areas of Sonora and Sinaloa fished as well as farmed. The Yaqui also made cotton products. The Yaqui have always been skillful warriors. The Yaqui Indians have been historically described as quite tall in stature.

The Yaqui conception of the world is considerably different from that of their European-Mexican and European-American neighbors. For example, the world (in Yaqui, anía) is composed of five separate worlds: the desert wilderness world, the mystical world, the flower world, the dream world, and the night world. Much Yaqui ritual is centered upon perfecting these worlds and eliminating the harm that has been done to them, especially by people. Many Yaqui have combined such ideas with their practice of Catholicism, and believe that the existence of the world depends on their annual performance of the Lenten and Easter rituals.

Flowers are very important in the Yaqui culture. According to Yaqui teachings, flowers sprang up from the drops of blood that were shed at the Crucifixion. Flowers are viewed as the manifestation of souls. Occasionally Yaqui men may greet a close male friend with the phrase Haisa sewa? ("How is the flower?").

The Yaqui were never conquered militarily by the Spanish, and they defeated successive expeditions of conquistadores in battle. They were converted to Christianity by Jesuit missionaries, who convinced them in the seventeenth century to settle into eight towns: Pótam, Vícam, Tórim, Bácum, Cócorit, Huirivis, Benem, and Rahum.

For many years, the Yaqui lived peacefully in a relationship with the Jesuit missionaries. This resulted in considerable mutual advantage: the Yaqui developed a productive economy, and the missionaries used the income to extend their missionary activities further north. In the 1730s, the Spanish colonial government began to alter this relationship, and eventually ordered all Jesuits out of Sonora. This created considerable unrest among the Yaqui and led to several rebellions. The Franciscan priests who were supposed to replace the Jesuits never arrived, leaving the Yaqui with no Spanish Catholic religious leaders.

The Yaqui leader Juan Banderas, executed in 1833, had wanted to unite the Mayo, Opata, and Pima tribes, together with the Yaqui, to form an alliance separate from Mexico in the 1820s. His effort failed and the Yaqui remained within the scope of Mexican legal authority. The nation suffered a succession of brutalities by the Mexican authorities, including a notable massacre in 1868, in which the Army burned 150 Yaqui to death inside a church.

The Yaqui leader Cajemé led another effort for independence in the 1880s. Following this war, the regime of Porfirio Díaz subjected the Yaqui to further brutality. He ordered a policy of ethnic transfer, in order to remove the Yaqui from Sonora and encourage immigration from Europe and the United States. The government transferred tens of thousands of Yaqui from Sonora to the Yucatán peninsula. Some were sold as slaves and worked on plantations in Mexico; many of the slaves died from the brutal working conditions. Many Yaqui fled to the United States to escape the persecution. Today, the Mexican municipality of Cajeme is named after the fallen Yaqui leader.

Known for their Deer Dance (Danza del Venado):

The Yaqui religion, which is a syncretic religion of old Yaqui beliefs and practices and the Christian teachings of Jesuit and later Franciscan missionaries, relies upon song, music, prayer, and dancing, all performed by designated members of the community. For instance, the Yaqui deer song (maso bwikam) accompanies the deer dance, which is performed by a pascola (Easter, from the Spanish pascua) dancer, also known as a "deer dancer". Pascolas perform at religio-social functions many times of the year, but especially during Lent and Easter. The Yaqui deer song ritual is in many ways similar to the deer song rituals of neighboring Uto-Aztecan people, such as the Mayo. The Yaqui deer song is more central to the cults of its people and is strongly tied in to Roman Catholic beliefs and practices.

© Photo and Text: Wikipedia

Carl Sofus Lumholtz

ANTHROPOLOGISTS OF THE WORLD 

Carl Sofus Lumholtz (1851 - 1922) 

Norwegian explorer and ethnographer, best known for his meticulous field research and ethnographic publications on indigenous cultures of Australia and Mesoamerican central Mexico. 

Born in Faberg, Norway, Lumholtz graduated in theology in 1876 from the University of Christiania, now the University of Oslo.

Lumholtz travelled to Australia in 1880, where he spent ten months from 1882-1883 amongst the indigenous inhabitants of the Herbert-Burdekin region in North Queensland. He wrote a book about his experience, Among Cannibals: An Account of Four Years' Travels in Australia and of Camp Life with the Aborigines of Queensland, first published in 1889, which is regarded as the finest ethnographic research of the period for the northern Queensland Aborigines. Whereas previous authors had commented only upon the aesthetic physical appearances and material culture of the region's indigenous people, Lumholtz added a level of academic research that was unique for the period. His work recorded for the first time the social relationships, attitudes and the role of women in the society. He also gave a series of two lectures on "Among Australian Natives" for the Lowell Institute for their 1889-90 season.

He spent a total of four years in Queensland, his expeditions included visits to the Valley of Lagoons and the Herbert River area. He made collections of mammals while living with the local peoples, these specimens were used for the descriptions of four new species. One of these was named for the type locality, Pseudochirulus herbertensis (Herbert River Ringtail Possum), and another commemorates his name, Dendrolagus lumholtzii (Lumholtz's Tree Kangaroo).

Lumholtz later travelled to Mexico with the Swedish botanist C. V. Hartman. He stayed for many years, conducting several expeditions from 1890 through to 1910 which were paid for by the American Museum of Natural History. His work, Unknown Mexico, was a 1902 two-volume set describing many of the indigenous peoples of northwestern Mexico, including the Cora, Tepehuán, Pima Bajo, and especially the Tarahumara, among whom he lived for more than a year. Lumholtz was one of the first to describe artifacts from the ancient shaft tomb and the Tarascan cultures. He described archaeological sites, as well as the flora and fauna, of the northern Sierra Madre region called the Gran Chichimeca. He gave a series of three lectures on "The Characteristics of Cave Dwellers of the Sierra Madre" for the Lowell Institute's 1893-94 season.

In 1905 Lumholtz was a founding member of the Explorers Club, an organization to promote exploration and scientific investigation in the field. He went on a brief expedition to India from 1914–1915, then to Borneo from 1915 to 1917, which was his last expedition.

In 1922 Lumholtz died of tuberculosis at Saranac Lake, New York, where he was seeking treatment at a sanatorium. He had published six books on his discoveries, as well as the autobiography My Life of Exploration (1921).

His works

• Among Cannibals; an account of four years' travels in Australia and of camp life with the aborigines of Queensland (1889)
• Unknown Mexico; a record of five years' exploration among the tribes of the western Sierra Madre; in the tierra caliente of Tepic and Jalisco; and among the Tarascos of Michoacan (1902) 
• Through Central Borneo; an account of two years' travel in the land of the head-hunters between the years 1913 and 1917 (1920)
• My life of exploration (1921)

© Text and photo: Wikipedia

Iskiate (chía fresca)

WORLD RECIPES 

Chia seeds have enjoyed a surge in popularity recently among health foods. There are many purported benefits of chia seeds, and legends abound about chia seeds reviving struggling athletes or warriors, with small amounts sustaining men for long periods of time.

Chia seeds have the interesting property that when they're left in water for a few minutes, the water begins to gel.  Supposedly this is helpful in digestion.  Here's a recipe for chia fresca (also called iskiate in Tarahumara language), a popular drink made with chia seeds, water, and lemon or lime.

About chia

Salvia hispanica, commonly known as chia, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae, native to central and southern Mexico and Guatemala. The 16th century Codex Mendoza provides evidence that it was cultivated by the Aztec in pre-Columbian times. It is still used in Mexico and Guatemala, with the seeds sometimes ground, while whole seeds are used for nutritious drinks and as a food source.

The word chia is derived from the Nahuatl word chian, meaning oily. The present Mexican state of Chiapas received its name from the Nahuatl "chia water or river".

Chia is grown commercially for its seed, a food that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, since the seeds yield 25-30% extractable oil, including α-linolenic acid (ALA). Chia seeds are typically small ovals with a diameter of about 1 mm (0.039 in). They are mottle-colored with brown, gray, black and white.

Chia seed is traditionally consumed in Mexico, and the southwestern United States, but is not widely known in Europe.

Today, chia is grown commercially in its native Mexico, and in Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, Australia and Guatemala. In 2008, Australia was the world's largest producer of chia. A similar species, Salvia columbariae or golden chia, is used in the same way but is not grown commercially for food. Salvia hispanica seed is marketed most often under its common name "chia", but also under several trademarks.

Ingredients

• about 10 oz of water
• 1 Tbsp dry chia seeds
• a few teaspoons lemon or lime juice
• sugar, honey or agave nectar, to taste (optional)

How to prepare it:

Stir the chia seeds into the water; let them sit for about five minutes.  Stir again, and let sit for as long as you like. The more it sits, the more gel-like the seeds and water become.  Add citrus juice and sweetener to taste.

© Text and image: Matt Frazier (www.nomeatathlete.com)

Lespri Endonptabl: Haitian Art

Rigaud Benoit, Les Sirenes, 1956, 

Winslow Anderson Collection of Hatian Art, 

Huntington Museum of Art

EXHIBITION

Name: Lespri Endonptabl

Dates: 27^th August – 29^th October 2011

Place: Noel and Kathryn Dickinson Wadsworth Gallery and the Chi-Omega-Hargis Gallery, The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University

Webpage: www. jcsm.auburn.edu

The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art's newest exhibition, Lespri Endonptabl: Selected Works from the Winslow Anderson Collection of Haitian Art at the Huntington Museum of Art, will be on view from Aug. 27-Oct. 29 in the Noel and Kathryn Dickinson Wadsworth Gallery and the Chi-Omega-Hargis Gallery.

 "Lespri endonptabl" is Haitian Creole for "the indomitable spirit." JCSM is pleased to present this exhibition of 32 objects produced in Haiti between 1945 and 1990, which depict themes of everyday life, landscape, flora, fauna, agriculture, folklore, and Voodoo.

The exhibition and its programs are JCSM's contribution to Auburn University's common book program, Auburn Connects!, which is focusing on Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World, by Tracy Kidder for the new academic year.

About Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art:

Open since 2003, the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University is Alabama’s only university art museum. Serving as the gateway into Auburn University, the museum is home to many pieces of culturally significant art. The collection includes 115 Audubon prints, a rare group of more than 40 Tibetan bronzes and works by important American artists, such as Arthur Dove, Georgia O’Keeffe and Lyonel Feininger. The museum rotunda hangs a three-tiered, hand-blown glass chandelier created especially for the museum by internationally-renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. The beauty continues onto the grounds of the museum with fifteen acres of gardens, walking paths and water features, complete with an eleven and a half foot tall brass sculpture, Spinoff, created by Auburn alumna Jean Woodham.

© Text and image: Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art

The Huichol of Mexico

PEOPLES OF THE WORLD

Name: Huichol

Living Area: Sierra Madre Occidental in Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas and Durango states (Mexico)

Population: 26.000

Language: Wixárika

Comments:   

The Huichol or Wixáritari are an indigenous ethnic group of western central Mexico, 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 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).

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 (or peyote, a hallucinogenic cactus) in the place that they call Wirikuta, that is located in the region of Real de Catorce in the state of Potosí San Luis. 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 Wixárika arrived in the Bolaños Canyon region looking for refuge and settled among the Tepecano settlements that already existed there. It is likely that there was mixing among the ethnic groups, as is evidenced by the many traditions, rituals (as the one of the use of chimales, or woods of oration, and the use of peyote in their ceremonies) shared among the groups. It is clear that the two ethnic groups would unite under a single leader to defend themselves from Spanish incursions and to mount rebellions against the Spanish colonial government. There is historical evidence of a rebellion mounted jointly by the two ethnic groups in El Teúl in 1592 and another one in Nostic in 1702.

The Wixaritari are relatively well-known among anthropologists for their long tradition of rejecting Catholic influences over their cultures and practices. Indeed, Wixaritari, along with the Lacandons and other ethnic minorities in the country, have fought for their religious and cultural freedom since the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. These ethnic minorities are often portrayed as non-existent or as extremely marginal due to the stereotype of indigenous people in Mexico as fervent Roman Catholics.

Known for their: use of peyote (Hikuri)

Like many indigenous American groups, Huichols have traditionally used the peyote (Lophophora williamsii or hikuri) cactus in religious rituals. Huichol practices seem to reflect pre-Columbian practices particularly accurately. These rituals involve singing, weeping, and contact with ancestor spirits. "It is Wirikuta, where the Huichol go each year to collect peyote." "Before reaching Wirikuta, their final destination, they pass by the sacred springs of Tatéi Matiniéri ("Where Our Mother Lives"), the house of the eastern rain goddess. They cross steppes. The first one is the Cloud Gate; the second, Where the Clouds Open."

Huichols have traditionally believed that in rituals they interact with the primal ancestor spirits of fire, deer, and other elements of the natural world. "A newborn, separated from its umbilical cord, will still have ... the agave plant where the cord was buried. When children grow up they need to obtain cuttings from their protector so that they can bury their children's umbilical cords under them". The Huichol keep the souls of ancestors who have returned to the world in the shape of rock crystals."

Their religion consists of four principal deities, the trinity of Corn, Blue Deer and Peyote, and the eagle, all descended from their Sun God, "Tao Jreeku". Most Huichols retain the traditional beliefs and are resistant to change.

© Text and image: Wikipedia

The Tarahumara of Mexico

PEOPLES OF THE WORLD 

Name: Tarahumara (Rarámuri) 

Living Area: Sierra Madre Occidental, Chihuaha State (Mexico) 

Population: <70,000 

Language: Tarahumara 

Comments:   

In Tarahumara language, the term rarámuri refers specifically to the males, females are referred to as muki (individually) or igomele (collectively).

Originally inhabitants of much of the state of Chihuahua, the Rarámuri retreated to the Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre Occidental on the arrival of Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century. The area of the Sierra Madre Occidental which they now inhabit is often called the Sierra Tarahumara because of their presence.

Current estimates put the population of the Rarámuri in 2006 at between 50,000 and 70,000 people. Most still practice a traditional lifestyle, inhabiting natural shelters such as caves or cliff overhangs, as well as small cabins of wood or stone. Staple crops are corn and beans; however, many of the Rarámuri still practice transhumance, raising cattle, sheep, and goats. Almost all Rarámuri migrate in some form or another in the course of the year.

The Tarahumara language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan family. Although it is in decline under pressure from Spanish, it is still widely spoken

The Rarámuri religion is a mélange of indigenous customs and Roman Catholic Christianity, characterized by a belief that the afterlife is a mirror image of the mortal world, and that good deeds should be performed not for spiritual reward, but for the improvement of life on earth. In certain traditions (perhaps those more strongly based on pre-Columbian practice), the soul ascends a series of heavens, is reincarnated after each death, and after three lives becomes a moth on earth, which represents the final existence of the soul. When the moth dies, the soul dies completely. However, this end is not regarded as negative or a punishment, but merely as a continuation of the order of life. In Rarámuri cosmology, God has a wife who dwells with him in heaven, along with their sons, the so-called sukristo (from Spanish 'Jesucristo') and their daughters, the santi. These beings have a direct link with the physical world through Catholic iconography, respectively crucifixes and saint's medallions. The Devil's world is not necessarily evil, but is tainted through its ties with the Chabochi, or non-Rarámuri. The Devil is said to sometimes collaborate with God to arrange fitting punishments, and can be appeased through sacrifices. In some cases, the Devil can even be persuaded to act as a benevolent entity. The Devil and God are brothers (the Devil is the elder) who jointly created the human race. God, using pure clay, created the Rarámuri, whereas the Devil, mixing white ash with his clay, created the Chabochi. Thus, the Devil is as much protector and life-giver to the Chabochis as God is to the Rarámuri. The Rarámuri share with other Uto-Aztecan tribes a veneration for peyote.

The Rarámuri are also known for the brewing of tesguino, a corn-based beer brewed in ceramic jars, that features prominently in many Rarámuri religious rituals.

Known by their: long-distance running ability

The word for themselves, Rarámuri, means "runners on foot" or "those who run fast" in their native tongue according to some early ethnographers like Norwegian Carl Lumholtz, though this interpretation has not been fully agreed upon. With widely dispersed settlements, these people developed a tradition of long-distance running up to 120 miles (190 km) in one session, over a period of two days through their homeland of rough canyon country, for intervillage communication and transportation as well as to hunt. Before these long distance runs, they consume large quantities of corn beer (tesguino) which is very high in carbohydrate and very low on alcohol. The Tarahumara also use the toe strike method of running which is natural for bare-footed runners. The long-distance running tradition also has ceremonial and competitive aspects. Often, male runners kick wooden balls as they run in "foot throwing" competitions, and females use a stick and hoop. The foot throwing races are relays where the balls are kicked by the runners and relayed to the next runner while teammates run ahead to the next relay point. These races can last anywhere from a few hours for a short race to a couple of days without a break.

© Text and image: Wikipedia

The Totonac of Mexico

PEOPLES OF THE WORLD

Name: Totonac

Living Area: states of Veracruz, Puebla and Hidalgo (Mexico)

Population: 411.300

Language: Totonac

Comments:   

The Totonac people resided in the eastern coastal and mountainous regions of Mexico at the time of the Spanish arrival in 1519. Today they reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the Pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained quarters in Teotihuacán (a city which they claim to have built). Until the mid-19th century they were the world's main producers of vanilla.

In the 15th century, the Aztecs labeled the region of the Totonac "Totonacapan"; which then extended roughly from Papantla in the north to Cempoala in the south. Totonacapan was largely hot and humid.

Totonac women were expert weavers and embroiderers; they dressed grandly and braided their hair with feathers. The Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún stated that, in all aspects of their appearance, the women were "quite elegant", women wore skirts (embroidered for the nobles) and a small triangular poncho covering the breasts. Noble women wore shell and jade necklaces and earrings and often tattooed their faces with red ink. Married women wore their hair in the Nahuatl fashion while peasant women wore their hair long. Likewise, the noble men dressed well, adorning themselves with multicolored cloaks, loin cloths, necklaces, arm bands, lip plugs and devices made of the prized quetzal feathers. Hair was kept long with a thick tuft of hair on the top tied up with a ribbon.

The Traditional religion was rather complex, as described in the early 1960s by the French ethnographer, Alain Ichon. Unfortunately, no other major essay on Totonac religion has since emerged. Mother goddesses played a very important role in Totonac belief, since each person's soul is made by them. If a newly born child dies, its soul "does not go to the west, the place of the dead, but to the east with the Mothers". Ichon has also preserved for posterity an important myth regarding a maize deity, a culture hero with counterparts among most other cultures of the Gulf Coast and possibly also represented by the Classic Maya maize god. As to traditional curers, it is believed that they "are born during a storm, under the protection of thunder. They think that a lightning bolt strikes the house of a new-born baby ..., and makes it ... under its possession".

Known by their: Danza de los voladores de Papantla

The Danza de los Voladores (Dance of the Flyers) is a ceremony/ritual which has its roots in the pre-Hispanic period and presently is best known as associated with the town of Papantla, Veracruz. It is believed to have originated with the Nahua, Huastec and Otomi peoples in central Mexico, and then spread throughout most of Mesoamerica. The ritual consists of the dance and the climbing of a 30 meter pole from which four of the five participants then launch themselves tied with ropes to descend to the ground. The fifth remains on top of the pole, dancing and playing a flute and drum. According to myth, the ritual was created to ask the gods to end a severe drought. Although the ritual did not originate with the Totonac people, today it is most strongly associated with them, especially those in and around Papantla, as the ceremony has died off in most other places. The ceremony was named an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in order to help the ritual survive and thrive in the modern world.

© Text and image: Wikipedia

Haitian Potato Salad

RECIPE 

Haitian cuisine is kréyol cuisine, a mixture of French, African, Spanish and indigenous cooking methods, ingredients and dishes. Rice and beans (dire ak pwa) are a staple. Vegetable and meat stews are popular too. Goat, beef, chicken and fish are complemented with plantains, cabbage, tomatoes and peppers. Fiery Scotch bonnet peppers lend their punch to many dishes, and to pikliz, a popular pickled vegetable condiment.

Ingredients (serves 8):

• 4 medium beets, leaves and stems removed, roots rinsed and wrapped individually in heavy duty foil
• 2 pounds red bliss or new potatoes (about 6 medium or 18 new)
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 to 3 scallions, sliced thin (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
• 1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

How to prepare it:

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Set beets in a small pan; roast until just tender about 1 hour. Let beets cool and then remove foil and skins (they slip off easily). Cut into medium dice and set aside.

Meanwhile, place potatoes in a 4 to 6 quart pot; cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer, stirring once or twice to ensure even cooking, until a thin-bladed paring knife or a metal cake tester inserted into the potato can be removed with no resistance, 25 to 30 minutes for medium potatoes and 15 to 20 minutes for new potatoes. Cool potatoes slightly, then cut them with a serrated knife, layering them in a medium bowl and lightly sprinkling with the 2 tablespoons vinegar and salt and pepper as you go.

Mix in scallions, peas, and mayonnaise; toss to coat. Lightly fold in beets. Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.

© Text and image: Food.com

BRUNEAF XXI Art Fair

SHOW

Name: BRUNEAF XXI (Brussels Non European Art Fair)

Date and opening times: 8-12 June 2011

Place: Different shops and galleries in Brussels. Office in: 17, Impasse Saint Jacques, Brussels (Belgium)

Contact: Phone: +32 (0)2 514 02 09, Fax: +32 (0)2 514 02 09, info@bruneaf.com

Webpage: www.bruneaf.com

History:

The idea of uniting a handful of primitive antique dealers to tie in with the inauguration of the Ambre gallery and offer the public the first “Non European Art Open Days” at the Sablon first saw the light of day in 1983.

The idea took off and it was a resounding success… the project became firmly established, attracting more and more galleries from both Belgium and abroad over the years.

In 1988, the first modest brochure appeared with details of this constantly expanding forum of antique dealers and only three and a half years later the first catalogue was published, marking the success of this momentary fellowship of antique dealers with one objective in common: to promote the exceptional wealth of primitive art, of which they are the ambassadors.

From 1996 onwards, Brussels antique dealers invited colleagues from abroad to the event. Today, the participation of galleries from France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the USA gives Bruneaf a decidedly international touch.

The Brussels Non European Art Fair has become one of the leading events displaying non-European art, covering fields as diverse as African, Oceanic, Indonesian, pre-Columbian, Asiatic and Australian Aboriginal art.

Sculptures, masks, fetishes, weaponry, jewellery, coins, fabrics, traditional objects executed by ethnic groups according to their own particular customs and worked in wood, metal, gold, silver, bronze, ivory or terra cotta - the objects on exhibit are ritual or domestic artefacts, combining shape with ornamental design. Although form always meets practical requirements, it is also testimony of a certain vision of the world. Objets d’art from Africa, Indian or Tibet thus draw on the wealth of the myths which form the collective memory, respecting the aesthetic and symbolic standards of tradition and following in the footsteps of the traditional crafts used by their ancestors.

See list of exhibitors here.

© Text and image: Bruneaf.com

Tribal Art Auction at Zemanek-Münster

Auction: 65th Tribal art auction

Date: 28 May 2011

Preview: 21 to 27 May, 10 to 20h, and 28th May, 9 to 13:30h

Place: Auctionhouse Zemanek-Münster, Hörleingasse 3-5, Würzburg, (Germany)

Contact:  info@tribal-art-auktion.de

Webpage:  www.tribal-art-auktion.de

Catalogue: http://www.tribal-art-auktion.de/downloads/catalogue173.pdf

Comments:

65th Tribal art auction

About Zemanek-Münster:

The Zemanek-Münster art auction house in Würzburg has been involved with African art since the beginning of the nineties and it has become Europe's only auction house that specializes exclusively in non-European art.

The company started in 1978 as a small and distinguished antique shop for European art in Würzburg. Its first art auction was held seven years later, initially in rented rooms. In addition to their premises in Würzburg, Zemanek-Münster had been running art auctions for many years in Miltenberg (Frankfurt am Main) and following the reunification of Germany in 1989 in Dresden, the provincial capital of Saxony. In 1992 Zemanek-Münster moved into their premises in the Hörleingasse, Würzburg, an old blacksmith's shop in former times. In the summer of 2007 the auction house was renovated to provide more exhibition space and a new glass roof also considerably improved presentation.

In 1990 Zemanek-Münster was already reacting to emerging changes on the arts market. In 1991 the company started to specialise in non-European art with the separation of the Africa collection belonging to the late artist and great collector Joachim Schlotterbeck, who died in 2007.

The family run company today has eight full-time employees, who are art historians and ethnologists for European art and non-European art. The extended team also includes photographers, layouters and other enthusiastic employees. Their professional qualifications, academic application and the dedication with which auction catalogues are compiled have gained them a high degree of customer trust. The company is now widely regarded for its integrity, reliability and fairness in dealings with bidders and consignors all over the world.

These constant high standards have led to the success of this small, family-run company at an international level. In addition, amicable relationships with both customers and employees and a warm and welcoming atmosphere all form part of the Zemanek-Münster company philosophy and have proved a decisive factor in the success of the art auction house. The future is also in safe hands: David Zemanek, the older son, who grew up surrounded by art and is a qualified art-ethnologist himself, will take over in the future.