Hello, my name is Kevin Simpson, together with my wife Beatriz we run a small gallery in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico that works directly with some of the most important tribes in Mexico including the Huichol Indians.  I am not an anthropologist but have had the opportunity to travel into the Sierra and attend just about every ceremony and ritual that make up the Huichol ceremonial cycle.  I cannot speak for the entire tribe nor every piece of art in the market but I can guarantee you that the art work that we show was made by Huichol who not only live in the Sierra but are intricately involved in the preservation of their cultures traditions.  For me it is the rituals and traditions that keep the culture going.  The families that I work with tell me that only those who are involved in the preservation of their cultures traditions truely have the right to use the sacred symbols of Peyote, Corn and Deer in their art.   They are not artists in as much as it is not their full time job.  They are farmers, shaman, students, politicians first and foremost, the artwork that they create is done for the money they need to host the ceremonies that make up what it means to be Huichol.

Because of their geographical isolation it wasn't until 1722  when Franciscan missionaries were finally able to penetrate the Sierra Madre Mountains of Western  Mexico and established a church in San Andres Cohamaita.  The missionaries brought with them colorful glass beads to trade with the Huichol in the hopes of converting them to Christianity. The Franciscans were able to exhort a considerable amount of influence on the Huichol, however they were never successful in converting the Huichol and abandoned them after about 100years. The Franciscans may not have been able to convert the Huichol however they did leave their mark on the culture. The colorful glass beads that they traded to the Huichol were quickly adapted for use not only in their personal adornment but were also used in their votive bowls and other religious artifacts.

In 1890 Norwiegen explorer explorer Carl Lumholtz was sent into Mexico by the American Museum of Natural History to look for the Anazazi.  Lumholtz spent close to 8years travelling through the Mexican Sierra and was the first to document the Huicholes ceremonial artifacts.  The artifacts that Lumholtz collected represent a culture virtually untouched by the Western world and today for the roots from which the contemporary art has evolved. 

Huichol art has come a long way from the primitive artifacts that Lumholtz collected over 100years ago however the culture and its traditions have been able to remain remarkably intact.  Aesthetics aside, better pieces of Huichol art should be marked not only with the artists name but should also have a stamp as to their tribal herratige as per the 1991 Indian Arts and Crafts Act.  One of the real marks of a better artist however is that you can recognize their distinct style, just like a signature.  Pieces that don't have a distinct style are generally produced in factory like settings by people who may or may not even be Huichol.  Today we are encouraging the Huichol to express themselves in new mediums.  Artists like Jose Carrillo Morales have combined water color paint to add depth to his traditional yarn paintings.  He actually considers his work to represent the Huicholes transfermation to the modern world.  Luis Castro is the grandson of Daniel Castro one of the first yarn artists in San Andreas Cohamiata, his day of the dead yarn paintings show rituals and traditions with details never before seen in Huichol art.  Bead artists like Santos Bautists, Eduardo Ortiz, Juan Villa Lopez and Teresa Carrillo are using new irridescent beads that we import for them adding not only color to their pallete but also a sense of depth that the primary colored beads don't have.  Yolanda Lopez Carrillo and Florencio Lopez Carrillo,  two of the very best bead artists, their father Jacinto Lopez Ramirez was one of the pioneers of the bead art and has been featured in just about every book ever published on the Huichol.  We have provided Yolanda and Florencio with new micro beads that are half the size of the regular glass beads that allow them to put more intricate details in their work.