Special Galleries
Collaborator and Co-founder:
Francisco “Chapito” Barnett Astorga
- Ambassador of Comcáac Culture for over six decades across the world.
- National Prize for Arts and Literature (Category IV: Popular Arts and Traditions).
- Member of the Continental Council of Indigenous Elders and Priests of the Americas, established in 1992.
Francisco “Chapo” Barnett Astorga was born in Bahía de Kino, Sonora. He possesses an enviable vitality and an irrepressible sense of humor. His daily motto is TCO Cazzim iha (“Everything is beautiful”). He currently lives in Punta Chueca — Socaiix, in the Cmiique iitom or Seri language — in the municipality of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.
In the 1960s, his enthusiasm for revitalizing Pascola songs and dances deeply influenced the Seri (Comcáac) people. Like many of his generation, he holds in his memory the ancient ways of composing and performing hacaatol cöicoos (songs of power) and Icoos Hicoiit (Pascola songs), among others. He has passed this knowledge down to his children and other community members. Following his father's example, he learned the path to becoming a Haaco cama (ritual specialist, "medicine man," or shaman).
He possesses profound knowledge of medicinal plants and stones attributed with magical virtues. He masters the necessary body movements—sometimes performing a slow dance to heal—and, above all, he knows the songs that serve as the language of the spirits.
Francisco Barnett learned to keenly recognize the emotional state of his patients. In Comcáac thought, intelligence resides in the heart rather than the head. When he looks at a sick person, he sees the spirit of the illness and immediately begins to sing until it is defeated. Knowing which songs to intone, at what moment, which spirits to dialogue with, and which songs they answer with, constitutes a specialized art and knowledge mastered only by a Haaco cama like him.
He has become one of the most prominent figures of the Comcáac community, both in the state of Sonora and nationwide. He is frequently invited to academic events, intercultural encounters, and seminars to share the customs of his people and his practice as a Haaco cama within the field of shamanism studies. His travels have taken him to Peru, Guatemala, Guyana, Colombia, the United States, and Europe, where he has shared his wisdom with other Indigenous peoples and the general public.
Among the Comcáac, he is universally recognized as one of the community's finest singers and the author of many of the songs he performs. He is widely admired for his lifelong effort to revitalize, defend, and promote the expressions that define the identity and culture of the Seri people.
“Chapito” with Comcáac Friends
“Chapito” at Events, Celebrations & Ceremonies
Family Photos of “Chapito”
"Chapito" Barnett
Collaborator
Edmundo Kossio
The Comcáac inhabit the beautiful and rich Sonoran Desert, on the shores of the Gulf of California, settled primarily in two villages: Axöll Ihóm (Desemboque) and Socaaix (Punta Chueca). Since 2005, Kossio has approached the Seris with the intention of disseminating their ancestral traditions, relying on the anthropological guidance of Dr. Otila Caballero. They have allowed him to record the Festival of the Leatherback Sea Turtle (Xiica Cmotomanoj), the Big Basket Ceremony (Saaptim), the Puberty Ceremony, the Comcáac New Year, as well as their basketry production and other ceremonies in the desert.
Kossio has participated with his research on the Comcáac in numerous ethnographic exhibitions, in addition to collaborating with universities, magazines, and documentaries in Mexico, the United States, Spain, and France, for which he has also received awards. (Source: Arqueología Mexicana)
Seri Basketry, Exhibition at GANFER 2017
Work Photos and Presentations
GANFER EVENT
Work Photos and Presentations
SAAPTIM EVENT
Work Photos and Presentations
"CUANDO EL RÍO SUENA" MAGAZINE
Work Photos and Presentations
"RELATOS E HISTORIAS" MAGAZINE
Saaptim, 2010 Photography Exhibition
Weaving Nature: Plant Fibers of Mexico,
Exhibition
Collaborator
Ricardo María Garibay Velasco
Social Anthropologist, UAM-I; Master’s in Rural Development, UAM-X; Postgraduate studies in Environment and Development, El Colegio de México.
Photographer since 1975. Specialist in ethnographic, landscape, ecology, and female nude photography.
50 solo exhibitions and 45 collective exhibitions in Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California Sur, Baja California, Morelos, Mexico City, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Michoacán, Yucatán, Colima, Queretaro; California and Texas in the US; and Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais in Brazil.
Visual Anthropology Projects: Identidad (Identity); Las Otras Aguas (The Other Waters); La Chinantla; Canto De Ballenas (Whale Song); Humedales Y Cultura (Wetlands and Culture); Petición De Lluvia En La Región De Chilapa, Gro (Rain Petition in the Region of Chilapa, Guerrero) and El Mezcal De Chilapa.
Published Books: Las Otras Aguas; Entre el Mar y el Desierto (Between the Sea and the Desert); Trazos de Luz y Poesía Arbórea (Traces of Light and Arboreal Poetry); La importancia histórica y cultural de los humedales en México (The Historical and Cultural Importance of Wetlands in Mexico).
Audiovisuals (Outreach and Training): La Montaña de Guerrero; Movimiento Campesino en La Montaña (Peasant Movement in the Mountain); El Cultivo de la Vainilla en la Chinantla (Vanilla Cultivation in the Chinantla) and La Ruta de los Conventos en Morelos (The Route of the Convents in Morelos).
Video: El Archivo Histórico del Agua (The Historical Water Archive); Medio Ambiente, Economía Campesina y Sistemas Productivos en la Chinantla (Environment, Peasant Economy, and Production Systems in the Chinantla).
ricardomagaribay@gmail.com
www.ricardomariagaribay.com
www.arteenmexico.com/artistas_garibay.php
Archival Photos
Face Painting
WOMEN OF THE DESERT
Seri Version
WOMEN OF THE DESERT
Spanish Version
Collaborator
Lutisuc A.C.
Lutisuc Asociación Cultural is a Private Assistance Institution based in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, made up of a group of professional women committed to contributing to the preservation of the indigenous cultures of the state.
Established in 1997, the organization complies with all applicable legal requirements, including authorization to issue tax-deductible donation receipts for contributions received.
Sonora is a state located in northwestern Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States, to the south by Sinaloa, to the east by Chihuahua, and to the west by the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. Its indigenous population consists of eight groups, seven of which are native to the region, while another has been established in the state for more than 100 years. Given Sonora’s border location, several of these groups have a binational presence.
More recently, an indigenous migrant population has become part of the state’s demographic landscape, primarily from the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. Geographically, these indigenous communities can be divided into three groups: mountain peoples, desert peoples, and valley peoples.
Farewell from Lutisuc
After 25 years of working alongside indigenous communities—creating workshops, preserving traditions, and developing projects together with women artisans from the different indigenous groups of the state—we are pleased to see that many of our goals have been achieved. Women have organized themselves within their communities and continue producing their crafts independently. They have learned how to market their work and maintain high standards of quality, while also participating in local and national events. The workshops we established continue to operate autonomously, without subsidies or outside intervention. Many of these artisans take great pride in what they do and deeply value their work. We believe that our role as a nonprofit organization has now come to an end. Most of those of us who have worked here are now older adults, and we no longer have the energy or the physical conditions required to continue traveling to the mountains, deserts, and valleys. In addition, increasing insecurity in rural areas has made it increasingly difficult to maintain contact with the communities. We understand that nothing lasts forever, and we are grateful that most of the goals we set out to accomplish were achieved. We leave with a deep sense of fulfillment: indigenous craftsmanship is increasingly valued and appreciated. Indigenous culture is recognized as an important part of our heritage, and a family-based economy has developed within these communities around the production and sale of handicrafts, independently managed by the women who formed the artisan groups. We will maintain this website as a resource for consultation and as a means of promoting and making visible the indigenous cultures of Sonora, which are so important to our society and deserve greater opportunities and spaces for recognition and dissemination. The bonds we have created will endure, and we will always cherish the lessons we, in turn, received from the communities with whom we had the privilege of working. We sincerely thank everyone who supported us throughout these 25 years.
The Lutisuc Team
Traditional Crafts
Audiovisual
Ceremonies
Community
Land
Collaborator
Alejandro Sergio Aguilar Zeleny
Professor / Researcher, INAH–Sonora Center
Doctoral Studies in Social Anthropology at the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH), 2000–2002.
Master’s Degree in Social Anthropology, specializing in Symbolic Anthropology, with the thesis “The Rites of Identity: Rituality, Diversity, and Indigenous Resistance Strategies in Northwestern Mexico.” 1998.
Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Techniques
Thesis: “A Diagnosis of Indigenous Communication in Sonora,” University of Sonora, 1987.
Head of the Sonora Regional Office of the General Directorate of Popular Cultures, Sonora Regional Office, 1987–1993.
Director of the Regional Center of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Sonora, 1993–1996.
Senior Professor / Researcher, “C” Level, affiliated with the INAH–Sonora Center, 1999–present.
He has worked for more than thirty years with the Indigenous peoples of Sonora, participating in various projects with different communities and national and international institutions.
Coordinator of the Sonora Desert / Mountain Regional Team, as part of the project “Ethnography of the Indigenous Regions of Mexico in the 21st Century,” INAH–CONACYT, 2001–2009.
Coordinator of the Inventory and Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage among the Indigenous Peoples of Sonora Project, 2015–2021.
Member of the NATIVUS Council, as part of the Diploma Program in Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Sonora, organized in collaboration with the University of Sonora (UNISON), El Colegio de Sonora, INAH, and the University of the State of Sonora (UES).
Participant in the project Traditional Medicine and Herbalism in Northwestern Mexico, in collaboration with El Colegio de Sonora, CONACYT, the University of Sonora, and INAH.
He has taught courses and workshops at the National School of Anthropology and History in Chihuahua, the Anthropology Program at the University of Sonora, the Autonomous Indigenous University of Mochicahui, the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, the University of the State of Sonora, among other institutions.
Video Work
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Me’eká carichí: Lejos de casa — The Tuguri Ceremony in Fundición
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Cava pizca — A Macurawe Ceremony, miniseries.
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Yuku konti — Rain Petition Ceremonies.
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Director of the documentary Días y flores: Los niños indígenas y la defensa de la cultura, produced as part of the Alas y Raíces a los Niños Sonorenses program, Government of the State of Sonora, ISC, INAH, 2002.
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Director of the documentary Para nacer he nacido. El mundo de los niños indígenas de Sonora, about the Comcáac puberty ceremony, CONACULTA, Alas y Raíces a los Niños, ISC, INAH, 2003.
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Participant in the production of the documentary series Pueblos en Riesgo, CDI / El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, 2015, featuring the Macurawe, O’ob, and Tohono O’odham peoples. Directed by Guillermo Monteforte.
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Participant in the film Hecho en México, directed by Duncan Bridgeman, 2017.
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Collaborator on the Ollin Yoliztli project, focused on the recovery of ethnographic films from the National Indigenous Institute (INI), 1978.
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Director of the video capsule series Un verano de antropología, 2020, produced in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Director of the series Los Rostros de la Diversidad, INAH Sonora, 2022.
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Director of the documentary Me’eká karichí, lejos de casa, about the Tuguri ceremony, produced with the collaboration of students from the Anthropology Program at the University of Sonora.
Music Collection
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Cassette: Martín Zuñiga Alvarezta Buikam, songs in the Yaqui language by Martín Zúñiga, PACMYC, 1990.
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Cassette: Música tradicional yoreme mayo, PACMYC, 1991.
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Antología Casa del Viento, ISC, 2000.
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Contributor to the anthology En el lugar de la Música, produced by the INAH Sound Library, 2010.
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Participant in the production of the book/CD Como la flor embrisada, a Yoreme Mayo popular songbook.
Publications
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Sonora, un solo pueblo, 2025, SEC, INAH, NIDOS de Lectura.
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Ley Estatal de Pueblos Indígenas de Sonora, UES, UNISON, INAH, 2023.
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Memoria macurawe. Páginas para la historia del pueblo macurawe (guarijío) de Sonora, Alejandro Aguilar Z. / Gildardo Buitimea, coordinators, Fondo Regional Yoreme / ISC / DGCP, 2019.
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La Ramada de Babel (poesía en lenguas 1985–2018), Ed. Nemesio, Centro de Estudios Culturales de la Sierra, 2019.
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La ética y lo sagrado, International Colloquium Construyendo nuestro futuro común, Directorate of World Heritage, INAH, 2015; republished in 2020.
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La virgen entre desiertos, valles y serranías, in El Nican Mopohua en nuestras lenguas: náhuatl, o’ob, yoreme, yoeme, makurawe, comcáac, tohono o’odham y español, Franciscan Capuchins of Northern Mexico, 2021.
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Los macurawe, in Álamos, zona de monumentos históricos, National Coordination of Historical Monuments, INAH, City of Álamos, ISC, 2018.
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“Es que tenemos gente ahí”. Cuevas rituales y funerarias entre los o’ob / oichkama de Sonora y Chihuahua, Diario de Campo, No. 3, INAH, 2017.
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Gentes de Sonora, photographic dossier, Diario de Campo, No. 3, INAH, 2017.
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Del viento suave a la voz eléctrica, el rock seri. Instrumento de identidad étnica, in Música indígena y contemporaneidad. Nuevas facetas de la música en las sociedades tradicionales, Miguel Olmos Aguilera, coordinator, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Tijuana, 2016.
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Atlas Etnográfico del Noroeste de México, co-coordinated with José Luis Moctezuma Zamarrón, 2014, INAH, ISC, INALI.
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Editor of the journal Cuando el río suena… letras lleva, issues 2–10, Coordination of Popular Cultures / ISC, CONACULTA, 2016.
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De los dioses salvajes a los dioses domesticados. Acerca de la religiosidad y las nuevas tendencias religiosas en el noroeste de México, Aguilar, Conde, Rentería and Méndez, in Los dioses, el evangelio y el costumbre. Ensayos de pluralidad religiosa en las regiones indígenas de México, Quintal, Castillejas and Masferrer, coordinators, Ethnography of the Indigenous Regions of Mexico Project, INAH, 2010.
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Caminando por la pimería baja. Territorio e Identidad, Aguilar, Beaumont, Quijada et al., Government of the State of Sonora, 2009.
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A la sombra del yaqui: pueblos indígenas y políticas étnicas en Sonora, book chapter in Conflicto y Armonía. Etnias y poder militar y religioso en Sonora, Raquel Padilla Ramos, coordinator, INAH, 2009.
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Noticia de un viaje al país de los pimas, bilingual Pima–Spanish edition, in O’ob Noki, Diccionario Pima–Español, by Father David Beaumont, Government of the State of Sonora, 2008.
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La memoria de las rocas. El arte rupestre de los pimas, Beaumont, Aguilar et al., 2004.
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La antropología en el desierto: procesos sociales en la frontera, in Antropología de las Fronteras. Alteridad, historia e identidad más allá de la línea, Miguel Olmos Aguilera, coordinator, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Playas de Tijuana, Baja California.
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Identidades en el desierto y la sierra de Sonora, in Visiones de la Diversidad, relaciones interétnicas e identidades indígenas en el México Actual, Miguel A. Bartolomé, INAH, Ethnography of the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico Collection, 2006.
Anthropological Expert Witness Work
He has conducted fieldwork for several decades, studying and analyzing various aspects of the culture and social organization of the Indigenous peoples of Sonora. He has participated in courses and seminars on legal anthropology at INAH.
He has conducted various studies and prepared anthropological expert reports concerning the Comcáac, Yoeme Yaqui, Macurawe, and Tohono O’odham peoples, primarily.
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Macurawe Anthropological Expert Report, Amicus Curiae, 2014.M
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Comcáac Ethnic Group Anthropological Expert Report, Ethnic Council, 2016.
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Anthropological Expert Report: The Tohono O’odham / People of the Desert: An Indigenous People Between Two Nations.
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Anthropological Expert Report: The O’odham and the Border.
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Anthropological Expert Report: Tohono O’odham System of Government.
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Anthropological Expert Report: Salina La Borrascosa, Tohono O’odham, 2017.
Contact:
Land
Land
Alejandro Aguilar Zeleny
MX - CC - Audiovisual - Aguilar Zeleny - Aguilar Zeleny - Forodialamos 020, 1 min - MA - 2 - D - (31)
MX - CC - Audiovisual - Aguilar Zeleny - Aguilar Zeleny - Forodialamos 017, 1 min - MA - 2 - D- (30)
MX - CC - Audiovisual - Aguilar Zeleny - Aguilar Zeleny - Esposa de don Antonio Canta, 1 min - MA - 2 - D - (25)
MX - CC - Audiovisual - Aguilar Zeleny - Varios - Para nacer he nacido, 11 min - MA - 1 - D - 20
Collaborator
Gerardo López Gerardo
Gerardo López Gerardo (Ismael Gerardo López Gerardo) is a distinguished nature, portrait, and landscape photographer from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. He has gained international recognition for capturing the essence of the Sonoran Desert, its wildlife, and local culture. Most recently, his work gained attention through the publication of his images in the digital edition of National Geographic.
Career and Style
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Main focus: Sonoran landscapes, storms and lightning, desert flora and fauna, and time-lapse photography.
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Featured projects: Creation of photographic collections and visual identities focused on nature and local communities, including photographic documentation on Tiburón Island alongside the Comcaac Nation.
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Recognition: His work reached an international audience when his photography was published by National Geographic in May 2026, showcasing the rural and natural landscapes of Sonora, including the Bacanora region.
Where to Follow His Work
You can explore his photography and time-lapse portfolio through his official social media accounts:
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Facebook:
Gerardo Lopez Gerardo - Retrato y Paisaje Sonorense -
Instagram:
@gerardolgerardo
Comcáac and Yoeme
Comcáac Concert at the Zócalo
Hamac Caziim Concert
Open Comcáac Exhibition in Mexico City
Fiestas del Pitic 2025
Sea Turtle Group
Xepe an Cöicoos
Comcáac New Year 2025
Antique Comcáac Object
Territory
Collaborator
Memo Vásquez
Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of Sonora (Hermosillo, Mexico). Specialist in institutional communications. Creative Director at S5 Consultores. Photographer. Traveler. Pilgrim of the Camino de Santiago. Member of Misión Kateri A.C. and Amigos de los Capuchinos I.A.P.
Comcáac
Collaborator
Otila María Caballero Quevedo
She is a psychologist, music therapist, and researcher. She holds a degree in Psychology, with a specialization in Music Therapy completed in Barcelona, Spain, as well as a Master’s degree in Education and a PhD in Social Anthropology from the National School of Anthropology and History in Mexico City, within the field of Symbolism and Worldviews in Indigenous Regions.
For more than 25 years, her academic and research work has focused on the relationship between art, music, culture, and health, with particular interest in the traditional expressions of Indigenous peoples.
Her doctoral research led her to explore Comcaac culture in depth, particularly the meaning and spiritual power that the community attributes to its traditional songs within healing rituals. This work resulted in the book Hacáatol cöicóos. Power Songs of the Comcaac People, a study that brings together the linguistic, musical, and anthropological analysis of 18 traditional songs, recorded in Cmiique Iitom and translated into Spanish.
Through a process based on respect, trust, and collaboration with families who preserve this tradition, Caballero Quevedo documented songs associated with healing, protection, purification, good fortune, and other dimensions of the Comcaac worldview. Her work also represents an effort to contribute to the preservation of the language and cultural heritage of this Indigenous people.
From the perspectives of psychology and music therapy, her research explores the role that singing, emotions, imagination, and altered states of consciousness play within traditional healing practices, creating a dialogue between academic knowledge and ancestral wisdom.
Her career is distinguished by interdisciplinary research, a respectful approach to Indigenous communities, and a strong commitment to documenting and safeguarding their cultural expressions. Through her work, Otila María Caballero Quevedo contributes to preserving an essential part of the memory, language, and worldview of the Comcaac people, while also opening new perspectives for understanding the connections between music, culture, spirituality, and health.
Book - Hacáatol Cöicóos (Comcáac Songs of Power)
Hacáatol Cöicóos POWER SONGS
Analysis of a Seri Healing Song
Comcáac Perceptions of Health and Illness and Their Healing Practices Through Songs
Album - Francisco Barnett Astorga
The Initiation of the Haaco Cama
Pancho Largo
Juanita's Cassette
Juanita in the Cave
Puberty Ritual
Interview with Juanita and Her Husband
Interview with Pancho Largo
Juanita at Sea
Interview with Pancho