People of the Peyote: Huichol Indian History, Religion, and Survival - Paperback

by Stacy B. Schaefer (Editor), Peter T. Furst (Editor)

People of the Peyote explores the Huichol Indians of Mexico, who are best known for their worship of the peyote cactus. Ritually harvested each year, the peyote flower plays a central role in most Huichol observances of the annual ceremonial round. The Huichols have been the most culturally persistent indigenous group in Mexico and have maintained their pre-Christian religion with only minimal accommodation to Catholicism. Eighteen essays explore Huichol ethnography, ethnohistory, shamanism, religion, mythology, art, ethnobotany, society, and other topics. The authors, including Huichol contributors, are an international array of scholars on the Huichols and indigenous peoples of Mexico.

Front Jacket

The first substantial study of a Mexican Indian society that more than any other has preserved much of its ancient way of life and religion.

Author Biography

Stacy B. Schaefer, professor emerita of anthropology at California State University, Chico (CSUC), and former codirector of the Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology (CSUC), has worked in research, curatorial, and educational capacities at a number of California museums. Her most recent book is Huichol Women, Weavers, and Shamans (UNM Press). Currently her research includes ethnographic fieldwork among the indigenous peoples of Chile and Bolivia.