Abstract

CRAMAUSSEL, Chantal. On the Path to Cerro Gordo, and Tepehuan Ritual Offerings in the Highest Mountains of the Community of San Bernardino de Milpillas. Frontera norte [online]. 2014, vol.26, n.52, pp.135-154. ISSN 2594-0260.

The ritual of offerings is a rain-making ceremony held at the end of the dry season in the highest peaks within the Tepehuan community of San Bernardino of Milpillas Chico, in the Sierra Tepehuana (State of Durango). Civil authorities, medicine men and members of the Council of elders take part in these rituals that are distinct from the Catholic ones and pertain to the yearly cycle of the traditional customs. It is a very important moment that strengthens cohesion among the Tepehuans who have a very scattered population pattern, as do the other indigenous groups in the North, though their rituals have also similarities with Mesoamerican ones.

Keywords : Tepehuans; Cerro Gordo; rain-making ritual; pilgrimage; Durango.