Using Multimedia to Expand the Audience of ... - Richard Repp

Using Multimedia 23
Arriving from Guadalajara, Jalisco in Huejuquilla el Alto (see Figure 2) in the
early evening, I was surprised to see a group of strolling musicians on the main avenue.
Recognizing that they were Huichol by their distinguishing attire, an unplanned musical
event was about to take place. Two of the men were wearing embroidered outfits typical
of the indigenous group and the other two men were wearing western clothing. Even
though I understand the Huichol are extremely shy and reticent towards outsiders, I could
not miss the opportunity to meet them. The quartet agreed to play several songs for a
small fee of one hundred Mexican nuevos pesos, equivalence to ten U. S. dollars. As we
were walking down the street together towards the center of downtown, a passerby
remarked “los mariachis”, referring to the musical ensemble. The vocabulary used to
describe the musical group struck me as odd, since there were only four musicians and
neither of them carried a trumpet, which is standard instrumentation for a mariachi band.
The musicians said that they were on their way to perform at a party farther down the
sierras. We arrived at the center of town where a quaint gazebo (see Figure 3) marked the
center of the principal plaza. Well-kept rose gardens (see Figure 5) decorate the north and
south sides of the park. Also in the plaza is the municipal building (see Figure 4) that
quarters the police and the local Museum of Anthropology Tatuutsima.
Figure 3. Plaza Principal gazebo; site of the Huichol string quartet performance