SIERRA TARAHUMARA.
As the moon makes her journey across the heavens, the sounds of distant drumbeats race across the high sierras echoing their message throughout the canyons. This is Tarahumara-land where drumbeats tell of dancing and the dance is a Tarahumara prayer. In recent years, most of their prayers have been for rain but the Raramuri (also known as the Tarahumara), who have preserved their culture better than other native American groups.
The Tarahumaras call themselves rarámuri which means foot runners. The word comes from rara (foot) and muri (run). For them it is a synonym for people or humans. They refer to the mestizos in general as chabochi, which means the ones who wear beards, and those who live with them and share their culture are called napurega rarámuri.
Although the 'Barranca del Cobre' is a canyon along one section of the Urique River, the name has come to be associated with the entire canyon system of the Sierra Tarahumara that comprises more than 20 canyons of which 5 are longer and deeper than the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA. Millions of years ago, tertiary volcanoes deposited their ash to form massive plateaus from the mountains of the region. Later volcanic activity created gaping cracks that were eroded by rain and subterranean water resulting in a wild, divided land that is among the most rugged in North America. Within this extensive canyon system, rivers are rendered unnavigable by great boulder fields and some of the highest waterfalls in the world. Although the Barranca del Cobre' is a canyon along one section of the Urique River, the name has come to be associated with the entire canyon system of the Sierra Tarahumara that comprises more than 20 canyons of which 5 are longer and deeper than the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA. Millions of years ago, tertiary volcanoes deposited their ash to form massive plateaus from the mountains of the region. Later volcanic activity created gaping cracks that were eroded by rain and subterranean water resulting in a wild, divided land that is among the most rugged in North America. Within this extensive canyon system, rivers are rendered unnavigable by great boulder fields and some of the highest waterfalls in the world.
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