Alexzandria Hamlett
ANT 306
Professor Rickli
Unit Five: The Rarámuri and Nayari
Religious Syncretism and Resistance
The Rarámuri have a reputation of bringing in different elements from other cultures to their
own. One ritual that has a blend of indigenous and catholic traditions is Holy Week. It is a
celebration of Norírawachi also known as “When We Walk in Circles”
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. Those that participate
in this march in a procession around the church. They are divided into Soldiers and Pharisees and
the Jesuit and Franciscans had influenced the organization of Passion plays. The dances, the
drums that are played and the marches around the church are influenced by Uto-Aztecan culture.
There is also the correlation between the divine beings of Catholics and Rarámuri God
and his wife are connected with the Sun and the Moon. Jesus and the Virgin Mary become
representations of these beings.
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Just like the Rarámuri and Native Americans were created by
