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Te'ekata ~ Photograph ©Juan Negrín 1976 -2023

Sacred Sites by Juan Negrín

Juan Negrín
| January 2004
The Wixarika tradition is rendered by three different terms: the first refers to our heart/ memory, tayeiyari- the second to how we develop, tanuiwari- the third to our life, tatukari, is transmitted by families, reinforced by communal living on extended family ranches and through clans at ceremonial centers, tukite (tukipa, sing.). Three places serve as the headquarters for what appear to be distinct Wixarika subgroups, with ritual and dialectical variants.
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Nierika Offering ~ Photograph ©Juan Negrín 1979 - 2023

Nierika by Juan Negrín

| January 2003
The nierika is represented among the Huichol Indians of northwestern Mexico as a focal point on which powerful beings concentrate their energy. This may be as primordial as a well-crafted deer snare that induces the sacred animal’s willing self-immolation. It can be a symbolic spider’s web or threads attached to a wooden loop.
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Nierika Offering ~ Photograph ©Juan Negrín 1979 - 2023

Nierika by Juan Negrín

| January 2003
The nierika is represented among the Huichol Indians of northwestern Mexico as a focal point on which powerful beings concentrate their energy. This may be as primordial as a well-crafted deer snare that induces the sacred animal’s willing self-immolation. It can be a symbolic spider’s web or threads attached to a wooden loop.
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Clandestine Sawmill on the Outskirts of the Huichol Sierra ©Juan Negrín 1981 2025

Notes on Wixárika History: Recent History

Juan Negrín
| January 2003
After independence was achieved from Spain in 1810, the laws of the reform passed under Benito Juárez during the 1850’s, restrained the power of the Catholic Church, but they also stopped recognizing Indian colonial land rights. Soon the Huichol, Cora, Tepehuano and Mexicanero Indian groups of the Western Sierra Madre were further dispossessed of their territory by their mixed blood neighbors. They rebelled, eventually uniting under Manuel Lozada, who joined French invading forces until they were stopped at Guadalajara, Jalisco, in 1873.
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The man who drank honey

The Man Who Ate Honey--Kieri and the Calling of a Huichol Shaman

Jay C. Fikes
| December 2001
Article written by anthropologist Jay Courtney Fikes in conversation with Wixárika mara’akame, Catarino Carrillo. "In 1996 I made my first visit to the Huichol community of Tuxpan de Bolaños. There I began developing rapport with an eighty year old shaman who we will call Catarino. Catarino has been kind enough to share many details about his life, including the explanation (below) of how he became a shaman."
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Photograph ©Peter Collings 2000

The Huichol of Mexico

Peter R. Collings
| January 2000
"The Huichol are best known for their strikingly vivid, and colorful, yarn paintings and beadwork. However, few people know or understand the depth of this pre-Colombian culture. This book is just a brief overview of some answers to some of the questions I am asked of these interesting people." Peter Collings
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Photograph ©Peter Collings 2000

The Huichol of Mexico

Peter R. Collings
| January 2000
"The Huichol are best known for their strikingly vivid, and colorful, yarn paintings and beadwork. However, few people know or understand the depth of this pre-Colombian culture. This book is just a brief overview of some answers to some of the questions I am asked of these interesting people." Peter Collings
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The Shamanic Vision of the Huichol, Free Spirit May 1998, Juan Negrín y William Meyers

The Shamanic Vision of the Huichol

Juan Negrín and William Meyers
| May 1998

This article was co-written by longtime intellectual collaborators, Juan Negrín and William Meyers, based on a journey they took together to Wixarika territory and ongoing conversations they shared about comparative spirituality, religion, and studies on shamanism. The article is illustrated with photographs taken by Juan Negrín and was published in New York City's long running Free Spirit magazine that Meyers served on.

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The Shamanic Vision of the Huichol, Free Spirit May 1998, Juan Negrín y William Meyers

The Shamanic Vision of the Huichol

Juan Negrín and William Meyers
| May 1998

This article was co-written by longtime intellectual collaborators, Juan Negrín and William Meyers, based on a journey they took together to Wixarika territory and ongoing conversations they shared about comparative spirituality, religion, and studies on shamanism. The article is illustrated with photographs taken by Juan Negrín and was published in New York City's long running Free Spirit magazine that Meyers served on.

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Ruz Buenfil for High Times

On the Peyote Trail in Mexico

Alberto Ruz Buenfil
| December 1990

This article was written by Alberto Ruz Buenfil (11 September 1945– 7 December 2023) was a Mexican writer and activist whose work is dedicated to environmental sustainability, and the performing arts. He co-founded two international  theater groups as well as Mexico's first  ecovillage, known as Huehuecoyotl. This article was written for the U.S. based High Times magazine after Ruz Buenfil accompanied a camera crew from the Canadian Broadcast Corporation that was documenting a Wixarika pilgrimage to Wirikuta from the community of Tateikié.

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