The Huichol people have lived in their homeland in the rugged Sierra Madre Occidental of western Mexico for thousands of years. They have never engaged in warfare or conflict with other people and President Cardenas of Mexico recognized their homelands in 1942. Huichol art is a fascinating blend of modern history, rich cultural traditions, and beliefs of an indigenous people. Their artwork takes two forms ­ one uses brightly colored yarns to embedded in beeswax to create strikingly colorful, intricate and beautiful picture of their cultural and shamanic traditions. The second form is animal figures and masks carved from wood and covered with beeswax in which small glass beads are embedded to create colorful representations of Huichol culture.

Mexico's Huichol people have maintained their traditional culture, language and spiritual way of life for centuries. The rugged and remote terrain of the mountainous Huichol homeland (in the states of Jalisco and Nayarit in Mexico) has provided a pocket of isolation where an estimated 7,000 remaining descendants of the Aztecs have ingeniously adapted to the demands of their harsh environment. In doing so, the Wixalika (the name the Huichols use in their language to refer to themselves, meaning "prophets" or "healers") have nurtured a value system and way of life that hold many lessons for the modern world.

Today the Huichol culture survives as a window to the past revealing a legacy of indigenous ways. The Huichol homeland is a refreshing reminder of how the world used to be when entire communities worked together as caretakers of reciprocity between people and the planet. Living in harmony in healthy communities that could serve as models in a troubled world, their cooperative lifestyle is rooted in a native spirituality that is reflected in their inspiring colorful dress, diverse art forms, ancient shamanic practices, and mythical ceremonial traditions.