9528208 Winter This U.S.-Mexico Program award will support a planning visit by Dr. Joseph C. Winter of the University of New Mexico to work with Professor Raul Mendez Lugo of Instituto Nacional de Antropologia y Historia (INAH) and Professor Bruce Benz of the Universidad de Guadalajara (UdeG) study the Huichol Indians of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The Huichol Indians are one of the most intact, culturally conservative indigenous groups in all of North America, who live under a traditional agricultural system. This project will investigate four topics: 1) the origins and development of prehistoric Huichol agriculture; 2) the changing nature of contemporary Huichol agriculture; 3) the expression of Huichol agriculture in art, mythology, and social organization; and 4) the transmission of Huichol agriculture through traditional education. The PIs will visit the main villages of two of the three traditional Huichol communidades and meet with comunidad governors and other members of the group. ***
