Tepehuano Art
Tepehuano Item 301
$7500.
1997
4ft. x 4ft.
Archival Materials
Note: By artists own admission, he would never be able to improve upon this work, and never has.
This painting relates to the customs of the Tepehuano people in dealing with their dead. At the upper left we see a deified mountain where the deceased family member has been interred. To the right, a scorpion - the most feared messenger of the deities, whose task it is to harm those who trespass and do not honor the gods. When a family member has died, the shaman or curandero must practice special rites for the surviving members. We see on the lower right four sitting persons. Above their heads is a cotton string attached to two arrow with eagle feathers. Behind them, the curandero performs rites so that they may not be harmed or taken away by the newly deceased. It is believed that the departed spirit is lonely and wants to return to their ancestral grounds to take along with them other family members. The shaman is seen with a pipe in his hand. He smokes macuchi which is a non-narcotic leaf. Via the smoke, the shaman is able to speak with the dead, the deities and perform blessings and healings of all kinds. After this ceremony the shaman wraps some of this cotton string around the neck of each surviving member. After a few days, the string is removed and burned. The surviving members are now protected. On the lower left corner is an altar which the family has set up for the spirit of the deceased. When the spirit returns to earth, which the Tepehuano call the Novenario, food and drink are left for the spirit in these altars. We see the sitting spirit consuming their favorite foods. Afterwards, the shaman has the ability to send the deceased back to "heaven." The center figure represents a deer spirit. The "blue" lights of the tail guide the spirit to the afterlife. On the center right we see a spirit-eagle, from where the shaman obtains the feathers needed for his rituals.
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