Transcript Yarn Paintings - Jenny Tiefel Art Education

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The Huichol Indians
are an indigenous
ethnic group from
Mexico.
The Huichol are
farmers and often
spend time working
in tobacco fields,
which has been
ruinous to their
health.
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They live in ranches
located in the
mountains.
They make cheese
from the milk they
get from their cattle.
Their diet consists of
tortillas, made from
the Blue, Red,
Yellow or White
"Sacred corn," beans,
rice and pasta, with
the occasional
chicken or pig.
They also eat chili
peppers.
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Each settlement has a
communal kitchen and the
family shrine, called a
xiriki, which is dedicated to
the ancestors of the ranch.
The buildings surround a
central patio. The
individual houses are
traditionally built of stone
or adobe with grassthatched roofs.
Their religion consists of
four Gods: the trinity of
Corn, Blue Deer and
Peyote, and the eagle,
which are all descendent
from the Sun God.
Huichols have traditionally believed
that through their rituals they
interact with the ancestor spirits of
fire, deer, and other elements of the
natural world.
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In traditional Huichol communities, an important ritual
artifact is the nieli'ka: a small square or round tablet with a
hole in the center covered on one or both sides with a mixture
of beeswax and pine resin into which threads of yarn are
pressed.
Nieli'kas are found in most Huichol sacred places such as
house shrines, temples, springs and caves.
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For the Huichol Indians yarn painting is not
only an art form. The symbols in these
paintings come from traditional Huichol
culture and its ritual traditions.