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LIVING PAST: HUICHOL PEOPLE
by Harris Tours
Nayarit. It's called one of Mexico best kept secrets
because of its natural and man- made wonders.
Although Nayarit is a fairly new state, it contains some of
the oldest towns and cities in the land. It was from here
that the Jesuit missions at San Diego and San Francisco
California were sponsored.
We'll be traveling this scenic wonderland to its capital,
Tepic. Founded in 1532 as Santiago de Compostela at
the base of the now extinct Sanganguey volcano, Tepic
was monumental to the Spanish
colonization
of the New World. We'll visit the Plaza Principal, the 18th
century Cathedral of the Inmaculate Conception of Mary,
and the Temple of
the Cruz de Zacate where the
legendary, miraculous grass cross was discovered in 1540
and has been growing unattended ever since.
From Tepic we'll take you to the dam at Agua Milpa, the
largest hydro-electric dam in Mexico. After a brief tour of
the facility,
we'll be ferried across the lake where, after a
short hike, we'll encounter a community of Huichol
Indians.
This represents the "Living Past" because the Huichol live
a lifestyle that has remained unchanged for over a
thousand years. They were
the "healers" of the ancient
Aztecs, whose self appointed role
in nature is to
heal the wounds man inflicts on mother earth. After about
an hour
and a half, we'll head back to Tepic to have lunch,
rest, and enjoy the
amenities before we start the return trip
to Vallarta.
This a full day adventure, eight in the morning to eight at
night,
with lots to see and do, so don't forget your camera,
you'll want photos.
Huichol Indians by Vallarta Adventure
The Huichols are one of the few civilizations in the world
that
has not lost their cultural identity to Western
influences - and perhaps the last
tribe in North America
who still live much as they did in Pre-Columbian times.
Believed to be direct descendants of the Aztecs, the
Huichols are a
warm-hearted and enduring people who
romanticize their past, clinging tenaciously to their lifestyle,
ever-increasing physical and cultural encroachment of the
modern
world.
The Huichol's strong ceremonial traditions and rich
mythology are reflected in the visionary artwork that they
create to record and
preserve their beliefs, rituals, visions
and spiritual identity.
The traditional techniques used to create each handcrafted
gourd,
mask, sculpture, or piece of jewelry are handed
down from generation to generation, in order to preserve
the Huichol's religious and cultural identity.
Our eye-opening, half-day tour to this sacred land offers
you the
unique opportunity to step into the Huichols' way
of life - and a world
that is central to a mesmerizing legend,
dating back over 2000 years.
Escape to this rural hideaway in the Sierra Madre
Mountains -
and discover the Secret World of the
Huichol Indians.
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