Antonio Vazquez, Tarahumara Curandero
Antonio showed me a large, panoramic photo of a sort of Indian curandero convention which took place in Culiacan, Sinaloa, which he attended in representation of the curanderos of the Tarahumara nation. I took digital photos of that, and I splice together two of them to make a composite of the entire photo, plus I have three closeups. I do not have the complete details of this event, but I will try and get more information from Antonio on this.
Most of the persons in this picture are Mexican Indian curanderos, expect for a couple of people who are either translators, organizers, of government officials. The tall man standing fifth from the right hand side is a member of a North American (United States) tribe. Antonio is standing to the left of him.
Antonio is on the far right, and next to him is a Huichol curandero with whom he developed a friendship and understanding. The Tarahumara and the Huichol apparantly have very similar, if not nearly identical concepts in matters of curanderismo. Huicholes, or course, are famous for their use of peyote in their religious and curing practices, and there are many uses of it also in those of the Tarahumara. Antonio complained that the two Tarahumara women in the picture were not really traditional Tarahumara curanderas, and that they do not even speak the Tarahumara language. He was, in fact, the only ligitimate Tarahumara curandero present. Likely there were some misrepresentations made to the organizers of the event.
The group on the right are Mexican indigenous curanderas from other regions of Mexico, and on the left are a mixture of organizers and translators, and curanderas.
Antonio is shown here with the group of people who he became most attached to. He is the man with the white headband, and next to him is a person who is a medicine man and a member of a tribe from the United States, while the others are Huichol Indians from either Sinaloa, or, more likely, from Colima state.