Debates en torno a orígenes comunes entre wixaritari (huicholes) y guachichiles. Enfoques históricos, lingüísticos y antropológicos en un mosaico cultural del septentrión mesoamericano
Debates on the Common Origins of Wixaritari (Huichols) and Guachichils. Historical, Linguistic and Anthropological Approaches in a Cultural Mosaic of North Mesoamerica

Summary/Abstract: From a review of historical sources, confronted with anthropological and linguistic theories that have proposed or, on the contrary, refuted cultural and biological links between ancient Guachichils and current Wixaritari (Huichols), the article reflects on these controversies regarding the historical relationship or direct filiation between the two peoples. In these discussions, we will see that the recovery of Wixarika mythological narratives has influenced interpretations of history. We also will discover that the question of the relationship between Wixaritari and Guachichils is inextricably linked to the historical nature of the various aggregated groups in the northern fringe of Mesoamerica under this Nahuatl-Spanish ethnonym. According to the analytical perspectives, who could have been those “desert people” who lived in the high plateau of San Luis Potosí before, during and aft er the colonization process? Is there a common Wixaritari-Guachichils origin? Is it appropriate to seek such common origin and why? Is it more relevant to infer social and historical interactions between two different populations? Assuming that the latter were correct, how could both groups have interacted to share time, space, physical environment, and knowledge about plants and animals?

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