Huichole Documentary

Hi everyone. I was sifting through the endless piles of rubbish (internet) when I came across a trailer for a brand new documentary due to be release in January 2013, titled Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians. It looks really good but I can't find it any where for sale or download. (probably hasn't been released yet)

This is (as far as I know) the newest doco on these amazing people since Benedict Allen did his documentary, Last of the Medicine Men: Psychedelic Mescaline back in 99.
Though by the sounds of it this one does these people more justice as it is more focused on the plight of this ancient culture as they are faced with modernization, mining and the every shrinking peyote habitat, rather then just the use of the sacred cactus.

Check the trailer out. http://www.huicholesfilm.com/

An update for those who are interested

A few teaser's have been recently released:

Huicholes: The last Peyote Gaurdians.

Teaser 1
Teaser 2

Release date will be revealed tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Should be a very enlightening doco.

Painful to watch those Lophs being dug up !   

im looking forward to watching this. although my spiritual inclinations have expired due to depth walking. would apear that the evergreens of promise have fruit. now im only happy to suggest the shores to and fro, it is all whom should benifit from this fruit n vegie.
the age old practice holds beauty for sure. but that is all... with or without mescalito. lol!


appart from what i just said i think its beuatiful that culture can be nourished and given strenth from the fruits of the earth.
wert.

like watermelon. very strenthy... very nice.

I agree navajoa. I am of two minds with it. On one hand I think all the sacred plants should be left to flourish but on the other hand this is after all, one of the last (not to mention oldest) surviving cultures on the continent. The fact that their belief systems survived the cultural and physical genocide of the Spanish inquisition is quiet unique in this part of the world. Had they not, they would most likely have been left with a raped and perverted version of their culture similar to the rather abusive systems found in the modern "peyote churchs".

On a side note I have done a lot of reading into the ideology and rituals of the peyote church phenomenon. In my honest and informed opinion, the huicholes and other traditional tribes of the region are the only people on this planet that should have the right to harvest wild peyote.

These people have practiced this religion for well over 8000 years as opposed to the very recent spread of peyote-ism into the Native American Indian populations.

If anyone is interested I would highly recommend reading Peyote: The Divine Cactus by Edward F. Anderson. Its a great starting point and offers a very in depth account of the spread of peyote-ism throughout the america's.

wert wrote:

im looking forward to watching this. although my spiritual inclinations have expired due to depth walking. would apear that the evergreens of promise have fruit. now im only happy to suggest the shores to and fro, it is all whom should benifit from this fruit n vegie.
the age old practice holds beauty for sure. but that is all... with or without mescalito. lol!


appart from what i just said i think its beuatiful that culture can be nourished and given strenth from the fruits of the earth.


wert.

just to clarify this post a little.
i mean all people should have the right to experiance.
i do not mean all people should have the right to poach, destroy enviroments and push an exotic plant specie into extinction.

these guys employ certain methods in there technique while harvesting wild specimens to ensure the survival of the species.
is that correct or have i been ill informed?
i do recal reading something along these lines at some point though.

wert.

you are correct wert. Traditionally they didn't use these methods. They would dig up the entire plant. The modern preservation technique of only cutting the top and leaving the rest is a very recent development.

The plant used to be found in vast populations so preservation was never much of an issue. But due to poaching and habitat loss the plants are becoming quite hard to find in quantities large enough to fulfill their cultural needs. Hence the technique change.

does the film explain how they smuggled the stuff into the pyramid over 3,000 years ago?

haha I some how doubt it.

SO just an update for anyone interested. The doco was completed and released a while ago now and I have struggled to find a free/stolen copy for download so I decided to pay the $4.00 to stream it from the official distribution site. In my opinion it was worth the money.

The doco highlighted the impact of big business (mostly mining) on the Wixáritari people and their sacred lands of Wirikuta. Some incredible landscapes and amazing plants to be seen and it is a captivating watch for anyone interested in the ethnobotanical side of things.

The following link will take you to the site if you wish to watch it.
Huicholes: Los Últimos Guardianes del Peyote