The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
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Bulk of materials received from Steven Dreben 1989. Video of edited film received from Hollywood Home Entertainment in 1993. Reels of edited film received from Thomas Perry in 2007.
Kal Muller films of Jalisco, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Edited film and footage focused on Huichol religious ceremonies as practiced by the Huichol of San Andres Coamiata, Jalisco, Mexico.
Supplementary materials: associated texts, still film, annotations (recorded narratives), field notes.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Dreben, Steven R., "Filming 'Huichol: People of the Peyote'". AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER, February 1978.
Full film record shot of the Huichol of San Andres Coamiata, Jalisco, Mexico. Featured are various Huichol ceremonies including
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1
Footage by Kalman Muller of a Huichol ceremony signifying change of authority called, "Cambio de Varas". Features preparation of "food bins": seats for the new leaders that are ornately decorated with food and provisions, a family placed in stocks, a procession, and traditional Huichol music and dance.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-1
Footage by Kalman Muller of a Huichol ceremony called, "Las Pachitas" that is celebrated before Ash Wednesday. Features scenes of ceremony, Huichol dances, Huichol and mestizo clothing, and drinking of beverages called, "atole" and "tepe".
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-2
Footage by Kalman Muller covers the "Las Pachitas" ceremony performed by a Huichol community in Jalisco, Mexico. Participants act out different roles in what appears to be a sort of passion play performed prior to Lent. Huichols act out the roles of the bull and the Jews.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-3
Footage by Kalman Muller of a Huichol ceremony called, "Las Pachitas". Features scenes of ceremony, Huichol and mestizo costume, Huichol dance, use of wooden swords and machetes during ceremony, and consumption of an alcoholic beverage called, "tepe".
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-3A
Footage by Kal Muller of Huichols getting ready to look for peyote. Features Huichol costumes, the use of animal blood in an offering, secular procession, yarn paintings used as offerings, woman giving children inoculations.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-4
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of offering preparations, religious procession, and Huichol and mestizo costume.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-5
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichols gathering peyote. Features the eating of cactus flowers to diminish the strong taste of the peyote, Huichol costumes, and the arrangement of offerings.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-6
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichols gathering peyote in the desert. Features scenes of Huichols gathering peyote in baskets and stringing them through piece of string, Huichol costumes, the use of a machete as a tool for gathering peyote, the use of the violin and other string instruments, and the preparation of offerings around the peyote gathered that day.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-7
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians living in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of peyote ceremony: preparation of the offerings, sacrifice of deers and bull, scenes of tortilla preparation and consumption of peyote.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-8
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol peyoteros clearing a corn field and participating in an Easter week ceremony. Features makeup used by peyoteros, traditional costumes, scenes of rural settlement, and a religious procession.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-9
Footage by Kalman Muller of Eliseo Castro Villa, a Huichol, who is making a yarn drawing using wax and colored yarn. Features E.C. Villa spreading beeswax onto a large piece of plywood, making designs using string: deer, snakes, an eagle, and peyote blooms. E.C. Villa also eats peyote during the shooting of this footage.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-10
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians. Features scenes of daily life in village, children engaged in game playing, shots of flowers, women weaving, and Huichol costume.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-11
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians. Features scenes of Rancho Mirador in Coamiata, scenic shots of mountain range, girl putting sprouted corn into basket, woman threading loom, scenes of Huichols sorting maize, children playing games.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-12
Footage by Kalman Muller of scenes of Huichol daily life. Features women using looms, grinding corn, as well as the use of the violin.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-13
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Mexico. Features scenes of a Huichol woman making tortillas, use of the violin, the grinding of corn, and scenes of daily rural life.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-13A
Footage by Kalman Muller of daily life among the Huichol Indians. Features woman grinding corn, threading loom, spinning thread, use of the violin, Huichol costume, woman filling water jugs, panoramic shots of countryside, and a child building a fire.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-13B
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians. Features scenes of daily rural life, use of musical instruments, preparation of peyote, consumption of alcoholic beverage called "tepe", preparation of food offerings, scenes of a procession, and Huichol dances and costume.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-14
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol ceremony. Features men drinking peyote, sprinkling of peyote over offerings, scenes of dancing and procession, use of guitar, and man wearing mask.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-15
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians. Features scenes of village during rain and hailstorm, planting corn, women tending to fire in wood burning stove, and the setting of fire to dry grass and branches.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-16
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians. Features scenes of morning preparation for Huichol ceremony, "Las Pachitas": woman grinding peyote to make tortillas, decoration of clay bowl with wax figurines, anointing of offerings with deer blood, and the use of fire to deter rodents from corn field.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-17
Footage by Kalman Muller of Las Pachitas ceremony celebrated by the Huichol Indians. Features Huichols preparing for the Las Pachitas ceremony, the arrangement of flowers, use of traditional musical instruments, the manufacture of yellow face paint, and scenes of participants in the ceremony.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-18
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians living in Jalisco, Mexico. Features panoramic shots of countryside and mountains, aerial shots of various Huichol farms, ears of corn decorated with flowers, Huichol women embroidering, a shaman simulating the healing of a stomach ache, and a Huichol making yarn drawings.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.1-19
Huichol Film Project, 1975
Full film record of the Huichol of San Andres Coamiata, Jalisco, Mexico. Featured are scenes of religious rituals,
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.2
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features preparations before going to gather peyote: preparation of offerings, sacrifice of a bull and anointment of various objects with bull's blood.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.2-1
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features "peyoteros" preparing to gather peyote, preparing offerings, digging peyote out of the ground and then threading the blooms onto a piece of string for transport.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.2-2
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features use of peyote in various ceremonial rituals related to the deer hunt, use of yellow face paint, musical instruments, and traditional and mestizo costume.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.2-3
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features the manufacture and use of yellow paint, preparation of offerings, the sacrifice of a sheep and various scenes of a cruficix.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.2-4
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of religious ritual in which a Christ figure is wrapped, anointed, and surrounded with offerings as well as scenes of Huichols making the preparations.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.2-5
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of preparations for a ritual: 2 bulls are prepared to be sacrificed, crucifix is covered with cloth, and dances are performed. Unobstructed shot of a bull being sacrificed.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.2-6
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features panoramic shots of landscape, use of headdress, traditional costumes, the making of yarn drawings, the use of animal blood in a Huichol ceremony, and the use of musical instruments.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.2-7
Full film record of the Huichol of San Andres Coamiata, Jalisco, Mexico. Featured are scenes of daily rural life, Las Pachitas ceremony,
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features use of corn threshing machine and shots of corn being collected in baskets.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-1
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features use of corn threshing machine and shots of corn being collected in baskets.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-2
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features peyote grinding, and scenes of daily rural life.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-3
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features shots of rural daily life, Huichol costume, and children interacting.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-4
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of early morning daily life, children playing, woman grinding corn.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-5
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes from the Huichol ceremony, "Las Pachitas".
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-6
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of daily rural life, woodworking, use of Huichol costume, the interior of a bamboo house, and the weaving of palm fibers.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-7
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features fields burned during slash and burn technique, Huichol girls doing needlework, and scenes of daily rural life.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-8
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of daily rural life, children playing, man making a guitar.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-9
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of the "Makuirra" ritual; the reintegration of returning peyote pilgrims with their families.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-9A
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of daily rural life, children playing, man making a guitar.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-9A
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of daily rural life, a woman grinding corn, young boys playing with lasso, group of men constructing a roof and a procession playing musical instruments.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-10
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of Easterweek in San Andres, Coamiata.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-11
Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features use of corn threshing machine and shots of corn being collected in baskets.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.3-12
Full film record shot of the Huichol of San Andres Coamiata, Jalisco, Mexico. Featured are scenes of a religious procession, Huichol men manufacturing and applying yellow face paint, preparation of offerings, and killing of a bull. Footage was shot in association with [Huichol Film Project, Summer 1974].
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.4
Full film record of the Huichol of San Andres Coamiata, Jalisco, Mexico. Featured are scenes of daily rural life, women embroidering, grinding of corn, Huichol costumes, spinning of thread, and weaving of fabric. Footage was shot in association with [Huichol Film Project, Summer 1974].
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.3.5
Footage by ethnographic filmmaker Kalman Muller of the Huichol in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of rural daily life, women embroidering and grinding corn. ; Footage by Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of daily rural life, women embroidering and grinding corn.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.4.5-1
Footage by ethnographic filmmaker Kalman Muller of the Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of the surrounding mountainous landscape as well as sequences of women weaving.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.4.5-2
Footage of Kalman Muller of Huichol Indians in Jalisco, Mexico. Features scenes of surrounding landscape, and women weaving.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1989.4.5-2A
3/4" video cassette of the HUICHOLS: PEOPLE OF THE PEYOTE produced by S. Dreben, K. Muller, T. Perry, M. See, and R. Race. Documents the ritual activities of a peyote pilgrimage by the Huichol Indians to the desert of San Luis Potosi.
Local Numbers: HSFA 1993-011
Edited film focuses on Huichol religious ceremonies as practiced by the Huichol of San Andres Coamiata, Jalisco, Mexico. Footage contains Cambio de Las Varas, a festival to celebrate the new "officials" passing of the sacred rods to the newly inaugurated who sit at the table of authority to receive gifts from their predecessors; Las Pachitas (Festival of Flags) where food is presented to the sacred cow horns; and a pilgrimage to the desert to collect peyote which is used in Huichol ceremonies. Also included are scenes of daily life activities including weaving, burning field, and planting corn. Film is narrated by Ricardo Montalban.
Local Numbers: HSFA 2007.3.1