ArchivesTag : Tarahumara
Copper Canyon
What is Copper Canyon? It is actually several vast canyons which sprawl over the Sierra Madres in northern Mexico. These gorges are more widespread and at several points deeper than our Grand Canyon. The Copper Canyon train (CHEPE) stretches through the heart of this romantic country. CHEPE is cited as one of the world’s great [...]
Full StoryJilo and 500 Pesos
I drop by Jilo Mancinas’ little hovel of a house in Areponapuchi. The front area serves as a garden, grazing area for Jilos ponies and parking for his beat up little pickup. Jesinia comes to the door. The pure beauty of this little girl flows. She and her sister Daniela live here with there parents. [...]
Full StoryThey Really Are “Born to Run”
When you go to Copper Canyon you often see the Tarahumara Indians…there are some 70,000 of them and their homes and little villages dot the landscape. They are reclusive and very quiet but not at all unfreindly- they just keep their space and distance especially with strangers. Two years ago, the bestseller “Born to Run“ [...]
Full StoryThe kind of people who love the Copper Canyon train.
There are certain qualities in the people who love the Copper Canyon and its train experience…it is not for everyone. Here are some qualities of people I have noticed who truly are enriched by it: 1. People who want to pave their own road with an intelligent, personal guide who knows and loves the place. They [...]
Full StoryThose Incredible Tarahumara Baskets in Copper Canyon…getting started.
They sit silently, three generations of them, on a ridge high above the roaring Orteros. Their hands are busy with an ancient craft. The only sound is the low chatter of children, an occasional fly, and the river. The baskets they are making this morning are of sotol leaves (from the plant that is fermented and [...]
Full StoryTesguino…my first shot.
We were traveling through and stayed in the tiny village of Cuiteco. It was on a Sunday last August and there was a Sunday celebration in Cuiteco. I had been wanting to give it a try this home brew of the Tarahumara called tesguino…and finally, I had the chance. I took a look at the stuff, [...]
Full StoryHow to tie Huarachis…footwear of the Raramuri
What are huarachis? These simple little sandals are worn year round by the natives of the Sierra Madres. Christopher McDougal has written about them in “Born to Run”. Often Tarahumara feet will be dry, crusted, and sometimes a little wounded from banging around the hills in these things. They do protect pretty well actually and [...]
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