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High in the Sierra Madre mountains of mainland Mexico, in the area of Copper Canyon (Barranca del Cobre), the Tarahumara Indians live as they have for hundreds of years without many of the “benefits” of the modern world. Here in a world without automobiles, telephones, electricity, or even indoor plumbing, they create these distinctive items both for their own use as well as a means to secure funds for necessary services like medical care.
They are experts in weaving the unique double-wall baskets of long-needle pine and /or Sotol, a native Agave.
Using the pinch method, they form simple utilitarian pottery from local clays, which is sometimes painted with natural or geometric designs, and sometimes decorated with goat-leather binding.
Early in the 1600’s the Jesuit priests introduced them to the violin, which they have adapted with their own interpretations, hand carving the entire instrument, often with intricate human faces & animal designs . This instrument and the painted, disc-shaped goatskin drum play a central role in their social occasions and religious ceremonies.
Their woodcarving skills are also evident in their masks, and wood-bark carvings of animals. They also carve dolls, beautifully attired in the hand-sewn native costumes still worn by many of the Tarahumara.
Learn more about the Tarahumara Indians by reading: Tarahumara, Where Night is the Day of the Moon, by Bernard L Fontana. More about Copper Canyon.
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