The Tarahumara, (“where the night is the day of the moon”) as the Spanish named them, or Rarámuri, (‘the light-footed one’) as they call themselves, are an indigenous tribe who live in Las Barrancas del Cobre (The Copper Canyon) in southwest Chihuahua State in northern Mexico. The Spanish invaders came in the 16th century. That part of their story is a sadly similar history as many other places in the world.
A couple years ago, Greg and I did the El Chepe Train trip into the Copper Canyon and visited many places where we saw these people selling their basketry, weaving, and other hand crafted items. They have their own language and when we visited this All Girls Boarding School in Cerocahui, we learned that these students were being taught Spanish by the nuns who run the school. They are also learning about Christianity. I don’t know how their families feel about that, but many of the girls who live in this boarding school come from families that can no longer provide for their children.
Some of them are orphans. It costs 50 pesos a month for each student. They eat mostly rice, beans, vegetables, and fruits. The nun told me that the girls learn to cook and clean, do traditional crafts, as well as to read, write, and speak Spanish. They have a small store where they sell the items they make, much like their mother’s make and sell in tourist spots in and around the canyon.
As a former teacher, I was intrigued with the classroom doors (we didn’t go inside the rooms).
It reminds me of 1st grade decor that I’ve seen in the United States.
Here is the bulletin board as you enter the school:
Check out the section that is about the exportation of petroleum and Winnie the Poo in the right lower corner.
Like children everywhere, they take time to play.
And typical of little girls, they like to make their hair pretty.
The Tarahumara are famous for their ability to run long distances, either barefoot or in their traditional sandals.
There is a beautiful old church across the street from the school.
As an observer for only a brief time, I thought the girls seemed content. The nun we spoke with was very sweet with the girls, though she was rather no-nonsense when I asked her what she thought their lives would be like once they were old enough to leave the school. She said they could only do what they could do for them while they were there. She wished them well when they left, placing her faith in God, and she focused on the ones who remained. Her English was excellent, by the way. In case you are wondering, we did donate to the school. It seemed like a no-brainer.Ju
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As tourists we saw many Tarahumara people on our trip, mostly women and children, as they rely on tourism to sell their hand-made items.
I will leave you with a photo I took at the station when we were waiting for the tram that went back to the Adventure Park of the Copper Canyon in Divisadero after our zip line adventure.
