Rarámuri

2025-09-29T09:32:23Z

64.222.79.181: Fixed typo

{{short description|Ethnic Group from Chihuahua, Mexico}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{for|the language|Rarámuri language}}
{{Redirect|Tarahumara|the film |Tarahumara (Cada vez más lejos){{!}}''Tarahumara (Cada vez más lejos)''}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| image = File:Tarahumaras1.jpg
| caption = Two Tarahumara men photographed in Tuaripa, Chihuahua, in 1892 by [[Carl Lumholtz]]
| group = Tarahumara<br />'''''Rarámuri'''''
| population = Unknown: estimates vary
| popplace = Mexico ([[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], [[Durango]], [[Sonora]])
| rels = [[Animism]], [[Peyotism]], and [[Roman Catholicism]]
| langs = [[Tarahumara language|Tarahumara]], Spanish
| related = [[Suma people|Suma]], [[Guarijio people|Guarijío]], [[Huichol people|Huichol]], [[Tepehuán]], [[Mayo people|Mayo]], [[Yaqui people|Yaqui]]
}}

The '''Rarámuri''' or '''Tarahumara''' are a group of [[Indigenous people of the Americas]] living in the state of [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]] in Mexico. They are renowned for their form of prayer that involves running for extended periods of time.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Preedy |first=Michael |date=2021-06-01 |title=Book Review: Exercised: The Science of Physical Activity, Rest and Health By Professor Daniel Lieberman |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.36866/122.12 |journal=Physiology News |doi=10.36866/122.12|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Originally inhabitants of much of Chihuahua, the Rarámuri retreated to the high sierras and canyons such as the [[Copper Canyon]] in the [[Sierra Madre Occidental]] on the arrival of Spanish colonizers in the 16th century.<ref name="Pennington Campbell">Pennington, Campbell W. (1963) ''The Tarahumar of Mexico, their environment and material culture''. University of Utah Press.</ref> The area of the Sierra Madre Occidental which they now inhabit is often called the Sierra Tarahumara because of their presence.

Estimates put the Rarámuri population in 2006 at between 50,000 and 70,000 people. Most still practice a traditional lifestyle, including inhabiting natural shelters (caves or cliff overhangs). Staple crops are [[maize]] and [[bean]]s; however, many of the Rarámuri still practice [[transhumance]], raising [[Raramuri Criollo cattle|cattle]], sheep, and goats. Almost all Rarámuri migrate from one place to another during the course of a year.

The [[Rarámuri language]] belongs to the [[Uto-Aztecan languages|Uto-Aztecan]] family. Although it is in decline under pressure from Spanish, it is still widely spoken. In the Rarámuri language, the [[Exonym and endonym|endonymic]] term ''rarámuri'' refers specifically to the men; women are referred to as ''mukí'' (individually), and as ''omugí'' or ''igómale'' (collectively).

==History==
The Rarámuri are believed to be descended from a people of the [[Mogollon culture]].<ref>{{cite web| title=The Tarahumara| url=http://www.lebaronsprimitives.com/PERSONAL%20NOTES.pdf| website=lebaronsprimitives.com| publisher=Hubbard Museum of the American West Ruidoso Downs| access-date=23 September 2014}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Rarámuri repulsed and were never conquered by the Spanish conquistadors or fully converted by the Jesuit missionaries. When the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, they called these native people the "Tarahumara".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.american.edu/TED/MEXDEFOR.HTM |title=Mexican Deforestation in the Sierra Madre |access-date=15 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228191927/http://www1.american.edu/ted/mexdefor.htm |archive-date=28 February 2012 }}</ref> By the early 17th century, the Spanish had established mines in Tarahumara territory and made some slave raids to obtain workers for the mines. Jesuit [[Juan Fonte]] established a mission, [[San Pablo Balleza]], at the southern end of Tarahumara territory, expanding from missionary work with the [[Tepehuan]] to the south. The Tepehuan's violent resistance to Spanish incursion in the Tepehuan revolt of 1616 killed Fonte and seven other Jesuit missionaries, closing the mission for over a decade.<ref name="Raat1996">{{cite book|author=William Dirk Raat|title=Mexico's Sierra Tarahumara: A Photohistory of the People of the Edge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5mS4w7j6Mt8C&pg=PA56|year=1996|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-2815-3|pages=56–57}}</ref><ref name="Polzer1991">{{cite book|author=Peter M. Dunne|editor=Charles W. Polzer|title=The Jesuit Missions of Northern Mexico|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJg1HrURPjQC&pg=PA232|year=1991|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8240-2096-5|page=232|chapter=Tomás de Guadalajara, Missionary of the Tarhumares}}</ref>

The discovery of the mines of [[Parral, Chihuahua]], in 1631 increased Spanish presence in Tarahumara lands, bringing more slave raids and Jesuit missionaries. Missions were established at Las Bocas, [[Huejotitán]], San Felipe and [[San Francisco Javier de Satevó|Satevó]].<ref>[[#Spicer|Spicer]], pp. 25–29</ref> In 1648, the Tarahumara waged war against the Spanish. They gathered at [[Fariagic]] and then destroyed the mission of [[San Francisco de Borja]]. Two of the leaders of this attack were captured by the Spanish and executed. Shortly afterward, the Spanish established [[Basúchil|Villa de Aguilar]] in the heart of the upper Tarahumara country.

From then on, the Tarahumara split into two groups. Those in the lower missions continued to move into the general Catholic population and largely lost their tribal identity. Those in the upper areas went to war under the leadership of Tepóraca and others, driving the Jesuits and Spanish settlers from the area. The Jesuits returned in the 1670s and ultimately baptized thousands of Tarahumara, but these people have retained a separate identity. [[Tepóraca]] was executed by the Spanish in 1690.<ref>[[#Spicer|Spicer]], pp. 30–33</ref> From 1696 to 1698, the Tarahumara again waged war against the Spanish, but were defeated. An important 1691 Jesuit report concerned the resistance of the Tarahumara to evangelization, ''Historia de la tercera rebelión tarahumara''.<ref>Tomás de Guadalajara (?), ''Historia de la tercera rebelión tarahumara''. Roberto Ramos, ed. Chihuahua 1950.</ref><ref>J. Benedict Warren, "An Introductory Survey of Secular Writings in the European Tradition on Colonial Middle America, 1503-1818, entry 107. "Jesuit Missions in Northwestern Mexico" in ''Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 13, Guide to Ethnohistorical Sources''. Howard F. Cline, volume editor. Austin: University of Texas Press 1973, p. 95.</ref>

By 1753, the Jesuits turned over the lower Tarahumara missions to secular priests, and in 1767 the Jesuits were expelled from Spanish territories. Most missions in Tarahumara country ceased to operate<ref>[[#Spicer|Spicer]], p. 37</ref> or were turned over to [[Franciscan]]s. Despite devoted and enthusiastic efforts, the Franciscans could not match the Jesuits’ feats, and the missions declined. The Jesuits reestablished the missions in the early 20th century.

== Culture ==
=== Athletic skills ===
The Tarahumara word for themselves, ''Rarámuri'', means "runners on foot" or "those who run fast" in [[Tarahumara language|their native tongue]] according to some early ethnographers like Norwegian [[Carl Lumholtz]], though this interpretation has not been fully agreed upon. With widely dispersed settlements, these people developed a tradition of [[ultramarathon|long-distance running]] up to {{convert|200|mi}} in one session, over a period of two days through their homeland of rough canyon country, for inter-village communication, transportation, and hunting.<ref name="Irigoyen and">Irigoyen, Fructuoso and Manuel Palma, Jesus (1995). ''Rarajípari, the Tarahumara Indian Kick-ball Race''. La Prensa.</ref>

The Tarahumaras' use of [[Huarache (running shoe)|huaraches]], their traditional form of sandals, when running has been the subject of scientific studies<ref>{{Cite journal|title = The Barefoot Debate: Can Minimalist Shoes Reduce Running-Re... : Current Sports Medicine Reports|journal = Current Sports Medicine Reports|volume = 11|issue = 3|pages = 160–165|doi = 10.1249/JSR.0b013e31825640a6|pmid = 22580495|year = 2012|last1 = Rixe|first1 = Jeffrey A.|last2 = Gallo|first2 = Robert A.|last3 = Silvis|first3 = Matthew L.|s2cid = 13254054|doi-access = free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Strike type variation among Tarahumara Indians in minimal sandals versus conventional running shoes|journal = Journal of Sport and Health Science|date = 1 June 2014|pages = 86–94|volume = 3|series = Special Issue on "Barefoot and Minimal Shoe Running"|issue = 2|doi = 10.1016/j.jshs.2014.03.009|first = Daniel E.|last = Lieberman|doi-access = free}}</ref> and journalistic discourse.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Study: Running Form Of The Tarahumara Indians|url = http://www.runnersworld.com/newswire/study-running-form-of-the-tarahumara-indians|website = Runner's World|access-date = 23 November 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151121190150/http://www.runnersworld.com/newswire/study-running-form-of-the-tarahumara-indians|archive-date = 21 November 2015|date = 12 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = How to Run With Perfect Form Like the Tarahumara Tribe|url = http://www.thebioneer.com/run-perfect-form-like-tarahumara-tribe-posture-breathing-footstrike-explained/|website = The Bioneer|access-date = 23 November 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151122035016/http://www.thebioneer.com/run-perfect-form-like-tarahumara-tribe-posture-breathing-footstrike-explained/|archive-date = 22 November 2015|date = 16 July 2014}}</ref> In his book, ''[[Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen|Born to Run]]'', author [[Christopher McDougall]] argues in favor of the [[endurance running hypothesis]] and the [[barefoot running]] movement based on his time with the Tarahumara people and their running in huaraches.<ref>{{Cite news|title = The Human Body Is Built for Distance|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/health/27well.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 26 October 2009|access-date = 23 November 2015|issn = 0362-4331|first = Tara|last = Parker-pope|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151105211812/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/health/27well.html?_r=1|archive-date = 5 November 2015}}</ref> Tarahumara sandals has become a byword in many US minimalist running circles with many companies starting since McDougall's book popularized the style.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Minimalist running isn't as simple as taking off your shoes. How to run naturally, safely|url = https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/sports/recreational/2021/08/31/born-run-minimalist-running-tips-limit-risk-injury/5658193001/|newspaper = The Poughkeepsie Journal|date = 31 August 2021|access-date = 17 March 2022}}</ref>

Their long-distance running tradition also has ceremonial and competitive aspects. Often, men kick wooden balls as they run in "foot throwing", ''[[rarajipari]]'', competitions, and women use a stick and hoop. The foot-throwing races are relays where the balls are kicked by the runners and relayed to the next runner while teammates run ahead to the next relay point. These races can last anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days without a break.
<ref name="Rarámuri">{{cite journal|last=Lieberman|first=Daniel|author2=Mahaffey, Mickey |author3=Cubesare Quimare, Silvino |author4= Holowka, Nicholas |author5= Wallace, Ian |author6= Baggish, Aaron |title=Running in Tarahumara (Rarámuri) Culture |journal=[[Current Anthropology]] |volume=61 |issue=3 |date=June 2020 |pages=356–379 |doi=10.1086/708810 |s2cid=219067151 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The Tarahumara commonly hunt with bow and arrows but are also known for their ability to run down deer and wild turkeys. Anthropologist Jonathan F. Cassel describes the Tarahumaras’ hunting abilities: "the Tarahumara literally run the birds to death in what is referred to as [[persistence hunting]]. Forced into a rapid series of takeoffs, without sufficient rest periods between, the heavy-bodied bird does not have the strength to fly or run away from the Tarahumara hunter."<ref>{{cite book|last=Cassel|first=Jonathan|title=Tarahumara Indians|year=1969|publisher=The Naylor Company|location=USA|page=96}}</ref>

=== Religious beliefs ===
The Rarámuri religion is a [[Syncretism|mélange]] of Indigenous customs and [[Roman Catholicism]]. During the late 1600s and early 1700s, there was strong Jesuit mission activity, which was met by resistance. Later, when the Jesuit order was expelled, the Rarámuri were left free to interpret, modify, maintain or promulgate Catholic beliefs, symbols, and practices with little outside intervention .<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Arrieta|first=Olivia|date=1 January 1992|title=Religion and Ritual among the Tarahumara Indians of Northern Mexico: Maintenance of Cultural Autonomy Through Resistance and Transformation of Colonizing Symbols|jstor=1408992|journal=Wíčazo Ša Review|volume=8|issue=2|pages=11–23|doi=10.2307/1408992}}</ref>

While native religious elements have been maintained, there are Spanish Catholic ritual elements, demonstrating "a genuine integration with vital cultural interests".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zingg|first=Robert M.|date=1 January 1942|title=The Genuine and Spurious Values in Tarahumara Culture|jstor=662830|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=44|issue=1|pages=78–92|doi=10.1525/aa.1942.44.1.02a00080|doi-access=}}</ref> The beings of most importance are: God (''Riosi''), God's wife, who is the Christian Virgin Mary transformed{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}, and the devil (''Riablo)''. ''Riosi'' is thought to be the Indigenous deity ''Onoruame'' ("Great Father"), and the Virgin Mary is ''Iyeruame'' ("Great Mother"). The Indigenous counterparts of Father-Sun and Mother-Moon overlap, respectively, with these concepts of God and God's wife.

Another reported variation is that God has a wife who lives with him in heaven, along with their sons, the so-called ''sukristo'' (from Spanish ''Jesucristo'') and their daughters, the ''Santi''. These beings have a direct link with the physical world through Catholic iconography, crucifixes, and saints’ medallions, respectively.

Although ''Riablo'' aligns with the devil, the Rarámuri do not believe in a being that embodies Evil wholly.<ref name=":0" /> Instead it is tainted through its ties with the ''Chabochi'' (non-Rarámuri). The Devil is said to sometimes collaborate with God to arrange fitting punishments and can be appeased through sacrifices. In some cases, the Devil can be persuaded to act as a benevolent entity.

Some Rarámuri religious practices have the sense of ''konema'' (i.e., feeding God), the sense of returning to God a little of the much that he has given is prevalent.

Some Tarahumaras maintain a belief that the afterlife is a mirror image of the mortal world and that good deeds should be performed—not for spiritual reward—but for the improvement of life on earth.

The Rarámuri share with other Uto-Aztecan tribes a veneration of [[peyote]].<ref name="KalesPierce1992">{{cite book|author1=Anthony Kales|author2=Chester M. Pierce|author3=Milton Greenblatt|title=The Mosaic of Contemporary Psychiatry in Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V9RrAAAAMAAJ|date=29 April 1992|publisher=Springer New York|isbn=978-0-387-97760-7|pages=121–129}}</ref>

=== Music ===
[[File:Tarahumara Flute RichardWPayneCollector.jpg|thumb|Tarahumara style flute, collected by Richard W. Payne, from the collection of Clint Goss]]Music and dance are highly integrated into Tarahumara social life. The classical pianist [[Romayne Wheeler]] writes that "Music sanctifies the moment in the life of all the Tarahumaras," and "All of our actions have musical meaning."<ref>{{cite book|title=Life through the Eyes of the Tarahumara|author=Romayne Wheeler|year=1993|publisher=Editorial Camino|page=161}}</ref> During the end of the year cycle, the Tarahumaras play violins which are masterfully carved but not varnished. The tunes are known as ''matachín'' pieces and are danced by dancers lavishly dressed in colorful attire resembling North African garments and accompanied by rattles (''sáuraka''). During [[Lent]] they play three-holed flutes of river cane, together with drums.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.flutopedia.com/flute_types_north_america.htm#Tarahumara_Flute |title=Tarahumara Flutes |author=Clint Goss |year=2011 |work=Flutopedia |access-date=15 January 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330092511/http://flutopedia.com/flute_types_north_america.htm#Tarahumara_Flute |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref>

=== Clothing ===
Traditional Rarámuri dresses displayed at the [[Museo de Arte Popular]] in Mexico City:
<gallery widths="200px" heights="300px">
File:MAPElNorte055.JPG|Rarámuri female dress
File:MAPElNorte052.JPG|Rarámuri male dress
</gallery>

=== Food ===
Staple crops of the Tarahumara are maize, beans, greens, squash, and tobacco. Chilli, potatoes, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes appear in Mexicanized regions. Corn is planted in February and March using oxen which are often loaned as not everyone owns one. Corn begins to flower in August; by November it is harvested and cooked or stored.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bennett|first=Wendell|title=The Tarahumara: an Indian tribe of northern Mexico|year=1935|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|url=http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/ehrafe/citation.do?method=citation&forward=searchFullContext&col=collection('/eHRAF/ethnography/MidAmer/NU33')&docId=nu33-001&tocOffsetId=tocPubInfoP}}</ref> Common corn dishes are ''[[pinole]]'', [[tortilla]]s, [[atole]], [[tamale]]s, and boiled and roasted ears.<ref>[[#Fontana|Fontana]], p. 51</ref> Beans are one of the Tarahumaras’ essential protein-rich foods and are usually served fried after being boiled. Tamales and beans are a common food that the Tarahumara carry with them on travels. Wheat and fruits were introduced by missionaries and are a minor source of nutrition. The fruits grown by the Tarahumara include apples, apricots, figs, and oranges.

The Tarahumaras also eat meat, but this constitutes less than 5% of their diet. Most of the meats that they consume are fish, chicken, and squirrels.<ref>[[#Fontana|Fontana]], p. 60</ref> On ceremonial occasions, domesticated animals such as cows, sheep, and goats are killed and eaten.
The Tarahumara practice [[persistence hunting]] of deer and wild turkeys by following them at a steady pace for one or two days until the animal drops from exhaustion.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330230317 | pmid=5861226 | volume=23 | issue=3 | title=Anthropological and physiological observations on Tarahumara endurance runners | journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology | pages=293–301 | last1 = Balke | first1 = Bruno| year=1965 }}</ref>

According to William Connors, a dietary researcher, their traditional diet was found to be linked to their low incidence of diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes. However, the Tarahumaras' health is transitioning in regions where processed goods have begun to replace their traditional staples.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lieberman|first1=Daniel E.|last2=Mahaffey|first2=Mickey|last3=Cubesare Quimare|first3=Silvino|last4=Holowka|first4=Nicholas B.|last5=Wallace|first5=Ian J.|last6=Baggish|first6=Aaron L.|date=1 June 2020|title=Running in Tarahumara (Rarámuri) Culture: Persistence Hunting, Footracing, Dancing, Work, and the Fallacy of the Athletic Savage|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/708810|journal=Current Anthropology|volume=61|issue=3|pages=356–379|doi=10.1086/708810|s2cid=219067151 |issn=0011-3204|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Tesgüino and Tesgüinadas festivals===
''[[Tesgüino]]'' is a [[fermented drink]] made year round from sprouted corn. Sometimes it is also made with still-green stalks, fruits of certain cactuses, shrubs, wheat, and trees when corn is sparse. The process begins by malting the corn and spreading it in a shallow basket covered with pine needles each day for four or five days. It is kept moist until the corn sprouts by which time the starch in the corn has been converted into smaller sugars. It is then mashed and boiled for eight hours. Varied herbs are ground up and mixed with water into a paste which is then fermented overnight by fire. Then the paste is combined with the corn liquid and fermented for another three to four days. Partaking of the alcoholic beverage usually takes place soon after its preparation, as the ''tesgüino'' can spoil within 24 hours.<ref>[[#Fontana|Fontana]], p. 54</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=American Indian Food and Lore |publisher=A Simon & Schuster Macmillan Company |author=Niethammer, Carolyn |year=1974 |location=New York |page=145 |isbn=0-02-010000-0}}</ref>

Gatherings for celebrations, races, and religious ceremonies often take place with tesgüinadas, a Tarahumara-style beer festival. These gatherings take place all year round, but most happen in winter, and are the social events between the neighboring Tarahumara people.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fried|first=Jacob|title=Ideal Norms and Social Control in Tarahumara Society|year=1951|publisher=Yale University|location=New Haven, Conn.|page=93|url=http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/ehrafe/fullContext.do?method=fullContext&forward=searchFullContext&col=collection('/eHRAF/ethnography/MidAmer/NU33')&docId=nu33-010&page=nu33-010-03829&offsetId=nu3301003850&tocOffsetId=tocnu3301003850}}</ref> Tesgüinada events include rain fiestas, harvest ceremonies, curing fiestas, [[Guadalupe, Chihuahua|Guadalupe]] Fiesta, [[Holy Week]], races, and Sunday gatherings. Some of these events take place during and after communal activities, for example when neighbors help one another's families with their fields or build large structures like granaries, houses, and corrals. The harvest and rain ceremonies take place during the farming months to ensure a good crop season. These events also require either a shaman, ''curandero'', or chanter. The job of the shaman and ''curandero'' are purely religious, as the ''curandero'' is there to diagnose and to heal the sick of the community, and chanters lead the tesgüinadas in chants and rhythms to accompany the ceremonies.<ref>[[#Fontana|Fontana]], p. 57</ref>

Tesgüinadas is an important aspect of Tarahumara culture as it is often the only time when men have intercourse with their wives. They act as [[social lubricant]]s, as Tarahumara are very shy and private. Anthropologist John Kennedy describes the institution of tesgüinada as an important social fabric of Tarahumara culture which he calls the "[[tesgüino]] network". He also states that "the average Tarahumara spends at least 100 days per year directly concerned with tesgüino and much of this time under its influence or aftereffects."<ref>{{cite book|last=Kennedy|first=John|title=Tarahumara of the Sierra Madre: Beer, Ecology, and Social Organization|year=1978|publisher=AHM Publishing Corporation|location=Arlington Heights, Illinois|page=111}}</ref>

The religious role of tesgüino is a very important aspect of tesgüinada. Before one can drink an [[olla]] of tesgüino they must dedicate it to Onorúame. During the curing ceremonies, the olla must rest in front of a cross until the ceremony is over. At age 14, a boy is allowed to drink tesgüino for the first time after a short sermon about his manly responsibilities. These rituals can sometimes last as long as 48 hours. Tesgüinadas are usually accompanied by dancing and the playing of fiddles, flutes, drums, and guitars.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kennedy|first=John|title=Tarahumara of the Sierra Madre: Beer, Ecology, and Social Organization|year=1978|publisher=AHM Publishing Corporation|location=Arlington Heights, Illinois|pages=115–116}}</ref>

== Notable Rarámuri ==
*[[Arnulfo Quimare]], ultra marathoner
*[[Carmelita Little Turtle]], photographer
*[[Daniel Ponce de León]], two division former, WBC featherweight and WBO world junior featherweight champion<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.goldenboypromotions.com/fighters/deleon.php |title=Fighters |publisher=Golden Boy Promotions |access-date=9 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100730050804/http://www.goldenboypromotions.com/fighters/deleon.php |archive-date=30 July 2010 }}</ref>
*[[Dr. Octavio Casillas]], award-winning educator
*[[Edwin Bustillos]], award-winning agricultural engineer
*[[Isidro Baldenegro López]], community leader and activist
*[[Jacob Casillas]], award-winning mechanical engineer
*[[María Lorena Ramírez]], ultra marathoner
*[[Mario Trejo (footballer, born 1999)|Mario Trejo]], footballer
*[[Rochelle Gutierrez]], professor of education
*[[Xemexe Tierrablanca]] silversmith, photographer, musician

== Threats ==
=== Environmental factors ===
[[File:Taraumara06.JPG|thumbnail|left|275px|Tarahumara man collecting firewood]]
Logging has occurred since the end of the 1800s when the first loggers arrived. Later, the liberalization of laws in the 1990s resulted in the exhaustion of resources.<ref name="Ibidem">[http://www.texascenter.org/publications/forestry.pdf ''The forest industry in the Sierra Madre of Chihuahua: Social, Economic and Ecological impacts''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305161023/http://www.texascenter.org/publications/forestry.pdf |date=5 March 2016 }}. De los Derechos Humanos, A.C. Chihuahua Mexico and Texas Center for Policy Studies (2000) pp. 5–6.</ref> In 1995, it was declared that "after hundred years of logging, only two percent ({{Convert|300,000|acre|ha|; |disp=x}}) of these unique forests remains", leaving one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in North America, containing hundreds of medicinal plant, oak and pine species in danger of extinction.<ref name="Ibidem"/> The Mexican Commission of Solidarity and Defense of Human Rights produced a report in 2000 noting the lack of studies by the government on how lumber production affected the ecosystem. Similarly, the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA) boosted foreign investment which resulted in the privatization of communal land and market-based mechanisms of environmental regulation.<ref name="Ibidem"/>

In January 2017, [[Isidro Baldenegro López]] (2005 recipient of the [[Goldman Environmental Prize]]) a community leader of the Tarahumara, was shot and killed in Mexico. Baldenegro spent much of his life defending the ancient forests of the Sierra Madre region from the devastating effects of logging.

Drought has also been affecting the region for ten years and has worsened in recent years. During 2011, it was the driest year in Mexico on record, with just {{Convert|12|in|mm}} of rain, compared to a historical average of {{Convert|21|in|mm}}.<ref>{{Cite web
| agency= Associated Press
|date=2 December 2011|title=North Mexico wilts under worst drought on record | website=Odessa American Online|url=http://www.oaoa.com/articles/water-76855-million-mexico.html|access-date=4 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207175929/http://www.oaoa.com/articles/water-76855-million-mexico.html |archive-date=7 December 2011 }}</ref> The most severely hit area was the Sierra Madre region. Agricultural losses in Chihuahua are estimated at $25 million; 180,000 cattle have already died as a result of the growing lack of precipitation in the region.<ref name="Ibidem" />

Due to the lack of water, crops were destroyed and famine spread. Combined with the freezing temperatures of a cold front, living conditions have become poor for the Rarámuri. Their dependence on the environment worsens the situation, as they lack employment opportunities to generate income in non-farming activities.<ref>[http://futurechallenges.org/local/drought-and-famine-an-insight-to-the-tarahumara/ Drought and famine: an insight to the Tarahumara] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109213356/http://futurechallenges.org/local/drought-and-famine-an-insight-to-the-tarahumara/ |date=9 November 2012 }}. ''Tecglobalist''. 3 March 2012.</ref> Moreover, increased contact with the outside world might be damaging as it creates dependency. These Indigenous people face extreme poverty, as reflected in the Mexican [[Human Development Index]] (HDI) which in the Sierra Madre is the lowest in the country: 49.1% below the national average.<ref>[http://oxfammexico.org/oxfam/contenido_subs.php?id_not=151 Crisis en la Tarahumara: ¿Qué, cómo y por qué está sucediendo la crisis alimentaria en la Tarahumara?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624110959/http://oxfammexico.org/oxfam/contenido_subs.php?id_not=151 |date=24 June 2013 }}. Oxfammexico.org. Retrieved 22 August 2014.</ref> Alberto Herrera, the Mexican director of [[Amnesty International]] stated that the Indigenous people in his country have endured "permanent discrimination, exclusion, and marginalization."<ref>Viar, Asela. [http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=465500&CategoryId=14091 Natives Ravaged by Mexico’s Worst Drought in 7 Decades] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306054212/http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=465500&CategoryId=14091 |date=6 March 2014 }}. Laht.com. Retrieved 22 August 2014.</ref>

=== Mining ===
Mining dates to 950 AD with the Toltec and [[Maya civilization|Mayan]] civilizations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Junior Mining Companies: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
| publisher=Seeking Alpha|url=https://seekingalpha.com/article/28406-junior-mining-companies-the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre|access-date=4 January 2023|website=seekingalpha.com
| first = Trey | last = Wasser
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121011111524/http://seekingalpha.com/article/28406-junior-mining-companies-the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre
| archive-date= 11 October 2012
| date = 12 March 2007
}}</ref> Since the Spanish conquest, thousands of tons of mercury and lead have been released in the Mexican mining belt, which stretches from Oaxaca to Sonora in the northwest. The Sierra Madre part of this belt is one of the world's most prolific gold and silver mining districts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucresources.net/ |title=UC Resources – Financial, Sales and Economic Forecasts for Investing and Business |access-date=5 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512053916/http://www.ucresources.net/ |archive-date=12 May 2012 }} Retrieved 21 May 2012</ref> [[Georgius Agricola]] mentioned in 1556 that mining led to [[deforestation]], the disappearance of wildlife and watershed contamination.<ref>Studnicki-Gizbert, Daviken (2009) [http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/EI/papers/Studnicki-Gizbert.pdf ''Exhausting the Sierra Madre: Long-Term Trends in the Environmental Impacts of Mining in Mexico. Draft for Rethinking Extractive Industry Regulation, Dispossession, and Emerging Claims''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222133328/http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/EI/papers/Studnicki-Gizbert.pdf |date=22 December 2014 }}. York University. pp. 1, 5</ref> Large areas were deforested to exploit metal deposits. Reforms in the 1990s allowed foreign ownership and resulted in the reopening of mines and increased mining. According to the Secretaría de Economía, 204 mining companies with direct foreign investment had 310 ongoing projects in Mexico in 2006. In 2010, Mexico's mining output reached high levels: 19% of the world's silver production was extracted here, and the mining belt was the world's most productive district as it was historically.<ref>[http://www.firstmajestic.com/s/TodaysMining.asp Today's Mining in Mexico] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504201655/http://www.firstmajestic.com/s/TodaysMining.asp |date=4 May 2012 }}. Firstmajestic.com. Retrieved 22 August 2014.</ref> The environmental impacts are dramatic, resulting in landscape change and the spread of heavy metals.

=== Effect of drug violence ===
[[Mexican Drug War|Drug violence]], cultivation and trade in this region have affected the lifestyle of the Rarámuri, given the proximity of the people and the Sierra Madre, one of the most productive drug-growing regions on Earth. Logging is not only controlled by the Mexican government but also practiced illegally by loggers and drug lords who use the forests to grow marijuana or opium or as space for their operations. Drug cartels usually have links with logging companies that launder money earned in the drug trade.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Beadle|first=Kristian|title=The Drug Destruction of Mexico, Part II|url=https://psmag.com/environment/the-drug-destruction-of-mexico-part-ii-19343|access-date=4 January 2023
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170729112047/https://psmag.com/environment/the-drug-destruction-of-mexico-part-ii-19343
| archive-date= 29 July 2017
| date = 15 July 2010
|website=Pacific Standard|language=en}}</ref> Narco-trafficking weighs heavily on the Tarahumara, as the drug lords force the farmers to grow drugs instead of their own crops.<ref>Salmon, Enrique. [http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/voices/enrique-salmon/narco-trafficking-sierra-tarahumara Narco-trafficking in the Sierra Tarahumara] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925231656/http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/voices/enrique-salmon/narco-trafficking-sierra-tarahumara |date=25 September 2012 }}. Culturalsurvival.org. Retrieved 22 August 2014.</ref> Cartels have exploited the Tarahumaras' reputation as long-distance runners by forcing them into running illegal drugs into the United States.<ref name="drugrunners">{{cite news|last1=Goldberg|first1=Ryan|title=The Drug Runners|url=http://features.texasmonthly.com/editorial/the-drug-runners/|access-date=28 July 2017|work=[[Texas Monthly]]|date=25 July 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728203241/http://features.texasmonthly.com/editorial/the-drug-runners/|archive-date=28 July 2017}}</ref>

== Forced displacement ==
[[File:Tarahumara women at Arareco Lake 1063.JPG|thumbnail|Two Rarámuri women (one with a baby nursing) at Arareco Lake near [[Creel, Chihuahua]]. The Tarahumara women wear the traditional brightly colored clothes for which they are famous. These women make and sell hand-made items at the lake.]]

The conditions of violence that are lived urge the Raramuri population to flee from their place of origin, often intimidated by criminal groups and extraction companies both Mexican and foreign.

=== Tourism ===
The remote terrain of the Sierra Madre has long served as a refuge for the Tarahumara. However, roads and tourism have expanded, bringing opportunities for some but problems for others. Ironically, the Rarámuri themselves seldom have sought this publicity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Levi|first=Jerome M.|date=Feb 1999|title=Hidden Transcripts among the Rarámuri: Culture, Resistance, and Interethnic Relations in Northern Mexico|journal=American Ethnologist|doi=10.1525/ae.1999.26.1.90|jstor=647500|volume=26|issue=1|pages=90–113}}</ref> In the 1800s, attempts were made to build a railway. Currently, this line is used by the train Chihuahua Pacífico or [[El Chepe]] to transport tourists, lured by false representations of the area as pure and pristine, to sightseeing locales.<ref name="nationalgeographic2002">{{cite web |url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/tarahumara-people/gorney-text |title=Tarahumara People – National Geographic Magazine |work=National Geographic |date=17 October 2002 |access-date=21 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513060428/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/tarahumara-people/gorney-text |archive-date=13 May 2012 }}</ref> It stops near many Tarahumara villages, attracting visitors expecting to see "primitive natives" (the legend of the Tarahumara). Along with new auto roads, railways built into the area have developed logging and tourism, which have accelerated the rate of modernization among the Rarámuri.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=West|first=Robert|date=1 January 1980|title=Review of ''Rarámuri: A Tarahumara Colonial Chronicle, 1607–1791''; ''Tarahumara: Where Night Is the Day of the Moon''|jstor=2513286|journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=60|issue=3|pages=493–495|doi=10.2307/2513286}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Ivan Ratkaj]]
* [[Multiday races]]
* [[Raramuri Criollo cattle]]
* [[Tarahumara language]]
{{clear}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|ref=Fontana|last=Fontana|first=Bernard|title=Tarahumara: Where Night is the Day of the Moon|url=https://archive.org/details/tarahumarawheren00font|url-access=registration|year=1979|publisher=Northland Press|location=Flagstaff|isbn=9780873581837}}
*{{cite book|ref=Spicer|author=Spicer, Edward H. |year=1962|title=Cycles of Conquest: The Impact of Spain, Mexico, and the United States on the Indians of the Southwest 1533–1960|url=https://archive.org/details/cyclesofconquest00spic|url-access=registration|publisher= Tucson: University of Arizona Press}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book|last=Yépez|first=Heriberto|title=The Empire of Neomemory [El Imperio de la neomemoria]|publisher=ChainLinks|year=2013|isbn=|location=|pages=|translator-last=Hofer|translator-first=Jen|chapter=Part II: Co-Oxident Kinh-Time Empire|orig-year=2007|translator-last2=Nagler|translator-first2=Christian|translator-last3=Whitener|translator-first3=Brian}}
*[[Antonin Artaud]]: ''The Peyote Dance'', (transl. [[Helen Weaver]]; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc., 1976)
*Bennett, W. and Zingg, R. (1935) The Tarahumara. Univ. of Chicago Press. Reprinted by Rio Grande Press, 1976.
*[[Carl Sofus Lumholtz]]: ''Unknown Mexico: A Record of Five Years' Exploration Among the Tribes of the Western Sierra Madre; In the Tierra Caliente of Tepic and Jalisco; and Among the Tarascos of Michoacan'', (New York: Scribner's and Sons, 1902)
* [[Christopher McDougall]]: "The Men Who Live Forever", ''[[Men's Health]]'' April 2008
* [[Christopher McDougall]]: ''[[Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen]]'', (Knopf, 2009. {{ISBN|0-307-26630-3}})
* Cynthia Gorney: "A people apart", ''[[National Geographic Magazine]]'' November 2008
*Don Burgess. Photos by Don Burgess and [[Bob Schalkwijk]]: ''Could you live like a Tarahumara? Podrias vivir como un tarahumara?'', (Taos, NM: Barranca Press, 2015. {{ISBN|9781939604-187}})
* Fructuoso Irigoyen Rascón. Cerocahui, una Comunidad en la Tarahumara. 40 Años Después. Don Quixote Editions/AmazonKindle. 2011.
*[[Ivan Ratkaj]]: ''Izvješća iz Tarahumare'' (Reports from Tarahumara), (Zagreb: Artresor, 1998)
*[[Jeff Biggers]]: ''In the Sierra Madre'', (University of Illinois Press, 2006)
*Jerome M. Levi: "Tarahumara (Rarámuri)", In: David Carrasco, editor-in-chief. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures, Vol. 3''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001: 183–185.
*Joseph Wampler: ''Mexico's 'Grand Canyon': The Region and the Story of the Tarahumara Indians and the F.C. Chihuahua al Pacifico'', (Berkeley: Self-Published, 1978. {{ISBN|0-935080-03-1}})
*Kennedy, J.G. (1978) Tarahumara of the Sierra Madre; Beer, Ecology and Social Organization, AHM Publishing Corp, Arlington Heights, Illinois. Republished, as The Tarahumara of the Sierra Madre: Survivors on the Canyon's Edge in 1996.
*{{cite journal | last1 = Levi | first1 = Jerome M. | year = 1999 | title = The Embodiment of a Working Identity: Power and Process in Rarámuri Ritual Healing | journal = American Indian Culture and Research Journal | volume = 23 | issue = 3| pages = 13–46 | doi=10.17953/aicr.23.3.n54560014066th1h}}
*Lumholtz, C. (1902) Unknown Mexico. 2 volumes. Scribner's Sons, New York. Republished in both English and Spanish.
*Pennington, C. (1963) The Tarahumar of Mexico, their environment and material culture. Univ. of Utah Press. Reprint by Editorial Agata, Guadalajara, 1996.
*Schalkwijk, Bob. (2014) Tarahumara. Mexico, DF: RED, Conaculta. 168 paginas. Español and English. Extensive collection of photographs by Bob Schalkwijk with an introduction by Ana Paula Pintado.
*Wendell C. Bennett and Robert M. Zingg: ''The Tarahumara: an Indian tribe of northern Mexico'', (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1935)
*William L. Merrill: ''Rarámuri Souls: Knowledge and Social Process in Northern Mexico'', (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 1988)
* {{cite journal | last1 = Wyndham | first1 = Felice S | year = 2009| title = 2009 Spheres of Relations, Lines of Interaction: Subtle Ecologies of the Rarámuri Landscape in Northern Mexico. (Special Issue: Traditional Resource and Environmental Management: Past, Present, and Future; Dana S. Lepofsky, ed.) | journal = Journal of Ethnobiology | volume = 29 | issue = 2| pages = 271–295 | doi=10.2993/0278-0771-29.2.271| s2cid = 86139607 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Wyndham | first1 = Felice S | year = 2010| title = 2010 Environments of Learning: Rarámuri Children's Plant Knowledge and Experience of Schooling, Family, and Landscapes in the Sierra Tarahumara, Mexico | journal = Human Ecology | volume = 38 | issue = 1| pages = 87–99 | doi=10.1007/s10745-009-9287-5| s2cid = 145077598 }}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090417050035/http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&category=motivation&conitem=3b4b1ca01e91c010VgnVCM10000013281eac____&page=1 "The Men Who Live Forever"] ''[[Men's Health]]'' article on the Tarahumara's athletic prowess
*[https://www.tarahumarabooks.com ''Tarahumara Books: Books by, for and about the Ralámuli of Chihuahua, Mexico.'']
* [http://www.tarahumara.net Tarahumara Foundation- Organization that has worked with Indigenous communities for twenty years, improving child nutrition, education, food security, water availability and conservation ]
* [https://ultrarunninghistory.com/tarahumara/ The Tarahumara Ultrarunners]

{{Indigenous peoples of Mexico}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Indigenous peoples of Aridoamerica]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples in Mexico]]
[[Category:Chihuahua (state)]]
[[Category:Peoples of the Sierra Madre Occidental]]
[[Category:Rarámuri| ]]
[[Category:Uto-Aztecan peoples]]

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Rarámuri