Tarahumara

In the photo there is a Tarahumara woman and her two children.

The Tarahumara live in the Sierra Tarahumara (known as Sierra Madre Occidental - North of the border).

The Tarahumara  moved into the mountains when the Europeans intruded into their land.

The Tarahumara are known the world over as great runners, who can outrun a deer.

Apparently the women like skirts and wear many skirts at once, thus the appearance of being very heavy.

In the mountains the Tarahumara farm.  These days the corn they once farmed is being  replaced by marijuana and poppies.  In Creel, the tourist stop over in a Sierra Tarahumara, on August 18 of this year, 13 people were killed when drug cartel members opened fire on a social gathering.  The once quiet mountain area is now as dangerous as the rest of Chihuahua state.

The Tarahumara women and children who live in Chihuahua beg, or  they sell chocolate bars and stuff like that.   I have never seen a Tarahumara man with these women.

The children do not go to school.  I suppose their help is needed in the family trade.

Perhaps the Tarhumara came to Chihuahua during a time of drought.  There certainly wasn't a drought this past year. But the women and children remain a very noticeable part of the Chihuahuanese social fabric.

In the past, the Tarhumara were known to be a quiet people who kept very much to themselves.  

Things have changed for these gentle people as civilization has crept up on them, and not in a good way.  They are part of the illegal drug trade.  And Tarhumara youth who don't carry automatic weapons long to have an AK-40 in their hands, or so I've heard.

Some say Creel is no longer safe.