Celebrate Semana Santa with the Tarahumara in Norogachi
Join Santiago Easter week, April 2 - 12, 2009

Your guide, Santiago James Barnaby, is an American from Bozeman, Montana who for 30 years has been exploring and living seasonally for 6 months a year in the Copper Canyon. Since 1983 he has made Norogachi his winter home. The local guides, the Tarahumara's and other people we will be meeting are his long-time friends.

Day 1: Thursday, April 2
Book air travel to Los Mochis (and return flight from Chihuahua City). Your cultural journey begins when you fly into Los Mochis and travel to the old colonial city of El Fuerte where we will stay for 2 nights in the beautifully refurbished old hacienda which is now the Hotel El Fuerte. You will meet your guide, Santiago James Barnaby upon your arrival at the hotel. (D)

Day 2, Friday, April 3 - Bird watching on the Rio Fuerte and walking tour of colonial architecture.
This morning we'll go on a bird watching trip to the Rio Fuerte. This region is the northern limit of the sub tropical thorn forest and is a major flyway for north and south migrations. The Rio Fuerte is a great place to view many of the birds which inhabit this area. Central El Fuerte has many old and refurbished buildings which date from the colonial period and they are all situated around the plaza and very near to your hotel. We will take a walking tour in the afternoon. (B, L, D)

Day 3, Saturday, April 4 - Train ride into the Sierra Madre to Est. Creel. Early morning transfer to the train station.
We'll catch the 1st Class Express "Chepe" on the Chihuahua al Pacifico railway. This is one of the finest train journeys in the world. The train climbs 7200' into the Sierra Madre, crosses 37 bridges and passes through 86 tunnels. You'll travel through sub tropical thorn forest and then rise into the pine forests by way of the Barranca Septentrion. Along the way you will see deep canyons, waterfalls and Tarahumara ranchos. At El Divisadero the train stops for 15 minutes where you will be able to view the Barranca del Cobre and the Rio Urique 4000' below. At this stop are many brightly dressed Tarahumara women who will be selling handcrafts. We'll arrive in Creel about 5 PM and transfer to Margarita's Plaza Mexicana. In Creel is a 24 hr. ATM and you can also call the U. S. (B, L, D)

Day 4, Sunday, April 5 - Transfer to Norogachi to enjoy Palm Sunday and the beginning of Semana Santa. This morning at 6:30 AM we depart for Norogachi, about a 4 hr. drive. We pass thru pine forests, ranchos in beautiful mountain valleys with crazy rock formations and cross the Rio Urique twice. We will have breakfast along the way. Norogachi is an old agricultural village and a ceremonial center to the Alta Tarahumara of that region. On Palm Sunday many of the painted "pharaseos" or "pintos", as they are more commonly called, will come and dance and drum to signify the beginning of Semana Santa. Palm leaves are handed out to everybody and the dancing continues. There is a service in the 315 year old church.

There are no tourist accommodations in Norogachi, but we are fortunate to stay as guests with Martha Garcia Espino. You can be assured of privacy, potable water and hot showers made by a wood-fired boiler. You'll enjoy 3 healthful meals each day from the traditional cuisine of the sierra and Martha is inexhaustable and a great cook! (B, L, D)

Photo by Kit Hedman, Denver, Colorado

Day 5, Monday, April 6 - Visit with potters in Choguita. After breakfast, we'll be taken by pickup truck on a ride through the back country to the pottery village of Choguita with local guides Hiram Loya and Gabriel Molina. It is located about a mile from the Continental Divide. In Choguita we will visit with Feliz Ortega and Maria Anita Luna, two of the best potters. There will be a discada (mexican barbecue) with them and the opportunity to collect beautiful clay pots. (B, L, D)

Day 6, Tuesday, April 7 - Riding mules and horses and visiting crafts visit. Today, there is a 3 hr. mule ride up Arroyo Grande to visit the old archeological site of the Cave of Ganochi. Hiram Loya will be your guide and wrangler. Along the way you will see old homesteads, fields plowed by mules, peach and apple trees, herds of goats and enduring people. Later we will visit with craftspeople that make baskets, blankets, violins, drums and other crafts made of wood. (B, L, D)

Day 7, Wednesday, April 8 - Hiking to a rancho for bread baking and music. We'll walk up a side canyon and visit an old pictograph site on the way to the home of Ernesto and Pascuala. There will be a bread baking in a traditional outdoor oven made of stone and adobe and you get to sample the results! You will also be treated to a musical group singing the folk tales of the sierra. In the evening Semana Santa comes to life with the lighting of the many bonfires on the mesas which encircle Norogachi. A short walk to Mesa del Barrio brings us to a great vantage point. (B, L, D)

Day 8, Thursday, April 9 - Private dance and Korima. The Stations of the Cross today; two different villages of about 50 "pintos" will arrive at Martha's to dance privately for our group. They will dance and be offered Korima, a large meal. Korima is an ancient Tarahumara concept of sharing where those who have the most will share food with those who don't and no lasting debt is incurred. The Tarahumara begin arriving in colorful clothing and in great numbers. One by one dancing groups arrive from the distant rancherias. You hear them drumming long before they arrive in the village plaza. The Stations of the Cross are erected of pine boughs along the path of the processions. Processions are walked with the effigies of Jesus and Mary and everbody participates, the dancers, visitors and the Tarahumara officials. Druming and dancing will continue throughout the day and night and in the evening large bonfires will be lit around the plaza. (B, L, D)

Day 9, Friday, April 10 - Procession to the cemetery and the arrival of Judas and evil. The groups of "pintos" have been arriving since yesterday. The ritual will be rising in intensity throughout the day as all of the groups will be dancing to the powerful rhythms of numerous drums. Late in the afternoon, as the Sun drops to the western horizon, the entire pueblo and all of the dancing groups participates in a procession to the cemetery carrying the body of Christ on a pole. At the same time a group of "pintos" has been making a straw effigy of Judas which will be carried to the plaza while the people are at the cemetery. Now evil reigns, but as night envelopes Norogachi the two Pascoleros are being ritually washed and painted with stains made of red and white clay and black ash by the assembled group of "true believers". Dancing will go on through the night in the plaza. (B, L, D)

Day 10, Saturday, April 11 - The Battle between Good and Evil and the Ritual of Renewal . As the Sun rises on Saturday morning the "true believers" with painted crosses of white clay on their foreheads form a small procession and walk to the plaza accompanied by beautiful music from a drum and violin. They are now ready to do battle with Judas. As the "true believers" arrive in the plaza they find Judas in firm control and being vigorously protected by the "pintos". After the completion of a ritual dance within the church by the two dancing Pascoleros, the "true believers" engage in battle with the "pintos". Possession is taken of Judas and he is propped against the front of the church where he is stoned, stabbed and then set on fire. The Ritual of Renewal has been performed, good has retaken control of the Sierra Tarahumara and the Raramuri are now assured of the health of the people, their crops and their animals.

After breakfast, we say goodbye to Martha and our new friends in Norogachi, load the van and retrace our journey to Creel. In Creel we'll stop for last minute shopping and lunch before traveling on to Chihuahua City. We check into the Hotel San Francisco near the main square and have dinner together. (B, L, D)

Day 11, Sunday, April 12 - There is an early morning transfer to the Chihuahua airport. Fly home.

Price Excludes:
International and internal flights, arrival/departure transfers not on arrival/departure days (can be provided at $150 USD/up to 6 pax); airport taxes, immigration card ($20 U.S.); breakfast and lunch on Day 1 and meals on Day 11; accommodation preceding Day 1 in El Fuerte or Chihuahua and following Day 10 in Chihuahua; gratuities to trip leader and local guides in Copper Canyon.

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