Pascola and Venado dances. Their material culture and ritual behavior

Abstract

The object of this work, it’s an interest to make an exploration into the northwest Mexican dances in relation to the material culture; is a description of musical instruments, paraphernalia, musicians and dancers connected with the natural world, designated between the Mayos of Sonora as the juyya ánia, or "el monte". Pascola and deer dances treated in this paper are a very important link between the natural and cultural world; between the dancistic and religious plane and the  world inhabited by the flowers, plants, snakes, deer, rodents, birds, etcetera. In this sense, they are called “los animals del monte”, represented by these dancers, musicians and various sounds played during a traditional holyday of the people Mayo.