Tuy Mayau
Route element
Tuy Mayau
A wetland located in the Chihuahua Desert that provides fresh water all year round. It is a place of purification for pilgrims, who collect holy water and stems from the uxa plant to decorate faces and ritual objects. It encompasses five sacred sites.
It consists of an elongated wetland located at an altitude of 2,090 m. The large pools of Tuy Mayau, which provide fresh water throughout the year in the middle of the arid Chihuahuan Desert, are a sanctuary for wildlife. In the sacred landscape of Tuy Mayau (where tuy flowers grow), the ancestral gods left their pitchers (aicutsi), which later became springs inhabited by snake men and women (cuteuteri). It is believed that turtle-shaped spiritual beings carry water to these springs.
The gourd carriers and all pilgrims purify themselves in the main pool of Tuy Mayau. At the springs, they make offerings and collect numinous water. During pilgrimages, the jicareros collect uxa (stems from the flowering shrub Berberis trifoliata) in the Tuy Mayau area. This plant is used to anoint their faces and other ritual objects.
Sacred sites:
Taurunita.
Tuy Uimari Mucaniere.
Nuarihuameta.
Huerica Muuta:
Jaca Maihueta.
