Raramuri Sacred Corn and Drink

Raramuri

Sacred corn and drink -- the Raramuri's observance of Holy Week

The Raramuri are the second largest group of indigenous people living in Mexico today. Most of the Raramuri live in the Sierra Madre, north of Mexico City. The Raramuri are famous for their unique blending of indigenous and Mexican/Spanish rituals, most notably exhibited during semana santa, otherwise known as Holy Week. Corn has sacred significance to this tribe. Holy Week, or where the martyrdom and resurrection of Jesus Christ is reenacted, is an important event for Christians all over the world. But in the hands of this isolated tribe, it has been "refashioned into an expression of cultural solidarity, replete with barrels of corn beer called tesguino" (Burnett, 2007). Rather than reenacting the Passion through religious plays and Holy Communion, the responsibilities of the community involve reenacting the struggles of the tribe against the larger world, and feature the sacred corn beverage that is unique to the tribe's culture. By communing with God in a state of sacred intoxication, the tribe celebrates its annual rebirth as a community as well as the rebirth of the Messiah.

According to anthropologist John Biggers, who lived amongst the Raramuri as a field hand, the Raramuri define themselves apart from almost all of their neighbors in the surrounding area, although the narrative of Holy Week obviously demonstrates that Catholic traditions have had an impact upon the structure of life of the tribe ("Biggers ventures in the Sierra Madre," 2006). The presence of Holy Week within the traditions of the Raramuri can be traced back to the Jesuit missionaries, although the Jesuits were expelled by the tribe in 1767. "The Raramuri reinterpreted Christianity, they emptied the symbols and rituals into their own molds, eliminating that which meant nothing to them, conserving and adapting to their natural cultural expression that which had meaning for them" ("Tarahumara," 2007, Mexico Online).

The Raramuri have been able to preserve themselves and their traditions for so long partly because their status as a unique linguistic group. The tribe is also quite isolated in its geography, one of the reasons the Raramuri call themselves "men of light feet" because of their famed ability as distance runners and navigators of their rocky mountain terrain ("Tarahumara," 2007, Mexico Online). The cohesiveness of their belief structure further contributes to community solidarity, and is intertwined with their indigenous agricultural practices. "For them, [corn] beer is an elixir for healing, a barter item and a divine beverage" (Burnett, 2007).

God is said to have taught the Raramuri how to make corn beer, and getting drunk on the elixir is a sacred act and a responsibility of every community member, not a shameful practice (Burnett, 2007). This is despite the often "outrageous" events of the tesguino Holy Week festival ("Biggers ventures in the Sierra Madre," 2006). According to anthropologist Bill Merrill, of the Smithsonian Institute, the tesguino beer is supposed to do away with the believer's ego, and through intoxication bring the drinker back to a childlike state. "When people get drunk that's why they act like children [the Raramuri believe]...Because the souls that are controlling their actions are the little souls, like little children" (Burnett, 2007). "By custom, participants will drink, dance, drum and carouse for as long as the tesguino holds out, whether two days or two weeks. [the] Spring planting will wait," and the harvest is a harvest of happiness as well as of corn. Instead of wishing one another a 'Happy Easter,' the Raramuri wish one another "bosasa" or "fill up, be satisfied, be contented" (Burnett, 2007).

This sense of joy during a celebration where conventional rules are suspended regarding behavior, and the blending of culture and Christianity are common in Meso-American celebrations of Holy Week all over Latin America. Also, Christians becoming like children before the feet of God is not an entirely foreign concept to Western Christians, nor is the featuring of grain (the host) and spirits (like wine) during communion. And like many Christian sects before them, the Raramuri believe the have been elected to be God's chosen people, "and that their mountain home is the center of the world," and the most sacred place in the world (Burnett, 2007). "In their colorful parades and festivals, they freely use Christian iconography to represent the struggle between the Raramuri and the outside world," transposing their own struggles onto the struggles of Christ and those who follow Christ (Burnett, 2007).