Ethnic Tourism in Sierra Tarahumara/Planeta.com

Ethnic Tourism in the Sierra Tarahumara:
A Comparison of Two Raramuri Ejidos
by Amy Elizabeth Anderson

CHAPTER 4: ARARECO

The Arareco Tourist Development Project is an initiative to make Arareco a major tourist center, providing employment for its residents and income for the community. This chapter describes the ejido setting, the project, and how outside-assistance is relevant to the ejido. The four issues outlined in the previous chapter are used to illustrate project effects.

Background

The ejido of Arareco is bordered on the south and west by other ejidos, on the east by the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad, and to the north by the mestizo lumber town of Creel (Figure 3). The Gran Vision highway slices a path through the ejido near its picturesque reservoir, Lake Arareco. Further towards the interior stands San Ignacio mission, built by Jesuits in the early 20th century, while the approximately 2,000 Raramuri residents are scattered in Arareco's narrow valleys, rolling hill land, and steep canyons.

Arareco is relatively less developed and does not have basic services such as electricity, running water, and sewage facilities due in part to the scattered rural settlement and a culture traditionally dependent on subsistence agriculture. However, change is ever-present as modifications are made in culture and economy. Because of Arareco's proximity to major transportation routes and a mestizo population center, the residents have had many pressures and opportunities to participate in the modern economy, particularly that sector involving tourism.

Project Description

The Arareco Tourist Development Project started in April 1992 as an initiative to develop tourist facilities and services in the ejido. A major goal was to establish Arareco as a center for tourism, attracting people who would spend more than brief periods there. Currently, visitors in Creel journey to Arareco for day-trips. Development plans are not specific, but rather appear as random suggestions made by notices posted on bulletin boards or by word of mouth. Since the inception of the project, the visible changes include fee collecting booths at all entrances, the operating of a lodge on Lake Arareco, and the opening of bike and boat renting facilities. The fee-collection stations were the most significant initial change in Arareco because they represent modification of access rights. The fees, about $3 (U.S.) per person, constitute the principal income derived from the project, and probably will remain so, until other paying services are built.

Outside-Assistance

The Commission for Solidarity and Defense of Human Rights (COSYDDHAC) is the primary agent in the planning, implementation, and current administration of the project. The Commission was founded in 1990 by a Catholic bishop interested in human rights issues involving the Raramuri. Of its eighty-odd members (all mestizo), approximately 12 work as full-time staff members investigating human rights abuses, holding workshops, and organizing activities. COSYDDHAC helped ejido leaders outline the project and are assisting them in spending the $1.3 million (U.S.) awarded to Arareco from the Mexican government's National Solidarity Program (PRONOSOL) for development.

COSYDDHAC has been a strong presence in Arareco since October 1991 when the Raramuri became engaged in a struggle over land with the government. At that time, the Ministry of Agrarian Reform produced a document with Raramuri signatures indicating the abandonment of ejido land around Lake Arareco, a popular sightseeing and camping destination. The 144 Raramuri residents of the lake area were informed by an "Act of Dislocation" document that the ejido land by the lake was to be opened for outside investment (probably hotels) unless they attended a crucial hearing in Chihuahua City. COSYDDHAC became involved and helped to organize over 300 Raramuri to storm a legislative session in Congress. Consequently, the governor of Chihuahua revoked the Act and promised the Raramuri the right to keep their land. Six months later, the Arareco Tourist Development Project, with COSYDDHAC as its main proponent, was implemented.

As stated before, outside-assistance does not necessarily mean that an outside group controls an indigenous group's activities but can merely mean that they have influence. Sometimes, there is a blurry line between bona fide aid that is requested and manipulation by outside agents. COSYDDHAC wavers on that line. Many COSYDDHAC representatives deny direct involvement in the Arareco Tourist Development Project while others boast of their "grassroots" assistance. Interviews with Arareco residents indicate that COSYDDHAC has been the main force behind the Tourist Development Project; their ideas, influence, and administrative role is very well known in the Raramuri community. To outsiders, COSYDDHAC's involvement is evident as they serve as speakers, proponents, and managers of project activities.

One key component of this argument revolves around the control of money; in particular the $1.3 million grant from PRONOSOL. This money is designated for infrastructure and planning and is held in a bank account in Creel. Access to this account is controlled by the Raramuri tourist project leaders who work closely with COSYDDHAC. It is unclear how these "leaders," who are primarily lake residents, were elected and what role COSYDDHAC played in their election. Through interviews of the Raramuri, however, it became clear that expenditures are not made without COSYDDHAC oversight.

Four Issues

Using the four issues explained in Chapter 3, this section analyzes the consequences of the Arareco tourist project and continues the recent history of change in the ejido. Much of this discussion focuses on describing the project and its effects. A description of outside-assistance is included, but the analysis of this influence is reserved for the concluding chapter.

Issue I - Economic Development

In Arareco, a variety of processes are occurring under the guise of economic development. Among these are adoption of elements from the modern Mexican economy including its material culture and trading practices. Examples of the material culture include modern clothing on the individual level and the establishment of infrastructure on the community level. Although many traditional economic activities such as subsistence farming, and materials such as pottery and housing types have been retained, there are opportunities to participate in the national economy through employment in lumber mills, ranches, and construction activities. The income from these jobs, in turn, allows for the replacement or supplement of clothing, cooking utensils, prepared food, and other mass-produced items. These changes are encouraged by the federal government and are essentially continuing the ideals of the first Jesuits to incorporate the Raramuri into the wider society. Tourism is another economic opportunity but it has its problems. As tourism increases, so do the prices for foodstuffs and other items. This inflation is countered by increasing the tourist trade further.

Since the inception of the project, some physical development has occurred but most of it is loosely planned for the future. These plans have expanded and changed since the project began. For example, the earliest Arareco tourist brochures emphasize the desire to provide small tourist services such as boat rental. Later brochures stressed building roads, a museum, expanding the tourist lodge, and opening a restaurant. More recent pamphlets, however, mention the importance of improving running water and providing latrines for the community. It is unclear what the project's priorities are and how all these sometimes discordant goals will be realized.

In addition to being confusing, the economic plans for Arareco are uneven. Most tourist development is planned for the lake area while the rest of the ejido will remain relatively untouched. The benefits, including infrastructure and employment, therefore, go to the 30 or so families who live near the lake. It is questionable how the other 370 families will benefit "indirectly" (as tourist brochures state). The development planned for the ejido community, such as roads and electricity, need initial capital and maintenance. However, a great amount of investment is needed to establish the tourism facilities around Arareco, maintain them, and provide for those residents. Many residents interviewed feel that the project planners had no intention of "developing" the ejido at all, but merely to enlarge the tourist facilities around Lake Arareco.

Issue II - Tourist Attractiveness

There are many elements of the modern world in the Raramuri culture, but they retain enough traditional attributes to be distinct and therefore attractive to the ethnic tourist. However, the more exceptional or odd aspects of the Raramuri culture have been overemphasized in the tourist literature, brochures, and newspaper accounts. Therefore, tourists often visit Raramuri ejidos, such as Arareco, with certain expectations in mind. When these expectations are not met or not replaced with a pleasing alternative, tourist attractiveness declines.

Tourists' initial reaction to Arareco's Tourist Project was a negative one. Even before any physical evidence of change, tourists were complaining about the project idea. The project, as indicated through brochures, was to provide services for visitors and improve the standard of living for its residents. With basic needs met in Creel, most tourists interviewed said that they do not want additional services in Arareco. By improving the Raramuri standard of living, tourist attractiveness also decreases because it is the very low standard of living (called "traditional" here) that tourists expect and come to see. Without even visiting the ejido, tourists are detracted by these two goals and opt to visit Raramuri ejidos that do not have development projects.

While Arareco's brochures emphasize that the project is an expression of the determination of the Raramuri, many tourists see the Raramuri as "selling out" and becoming incorporated in the modern economy. Part of the Raramuri's attractiveness is the history of their resistance to modernity and their retention of traditional ways. The determination described in the brochures does not ring true to what tourists think Raramuri determination should be which might be a rejection of a project. To make matters worse, the influence of outsiders is apparent. For example, pictured on the walls of the Arareco tourist office in Creel are COSYDDHAC members signing documents, running meetings, and generally overseeing development activities in Arareco. Even without the telling photographs, COSYDDHAC has a visible presence in the ejido as its personnel are seen riding around in trucks and directing different tourist activities. By appearances alone, the Arareco tourist project seems to be controlled by the mestizos (COSYDDHAC) and not by the Raramuri.

In sum, many of the interviewed tourists expressed disapproval towards a project that accelerates development and the accompanying loss of tradition and culture, especially if that project is controlled from outside. Tourist expectations may change with time, however, as Arareco becomes viewed as a resort rather than a stronghold of ancient tradition. Someday, Arareco may become a base, such as Creel, from which tourists make day excursions to see traditional Raramuri in yet to be developed communities.

Issue III - Inter-ethnic Relations

Inter-ethnic relations, in this case, refers to the relations between the indigenous Raramuri and their mestizo neighbors. Many who say they are of Raramuri extraction identify themselves as mestizo. A relationship exists because the two groups share land boundaries and the tourism industry. The mestizos, located near the rail lines, bus stops, and larger population centers, are the primarily tranporters and lodgers of the tourists. In contrast, the Raramuri serve as the attraction, the supplier of crafts, and the residents of the landscape which tourists want to visit. Because the mestizos in Creel have influence in directing tourists to certain areas, it is to the advantage of Raramuri individuals and communities to enter into cooperative relationships with these neighbors.

Arareco is a popular tourist destination. Before the tourist project, mestizos promoted Arareco because of its proximity, wealth of natural wonders, and traditional-living Raramuri. Tourists would often pay for inexpensive ($3-10 US dollars), mestizo-run tours to Arareco. Those tourists who did not want to pay for tours were given directions on how to walk to the ejido because the mestizos still profited by having the tourists use Creel as their base of exploration. Raramuri families live close to the four main tourist sites in Arareco: San Ignacio mission, Lake Arareco, the Valley of the Monks, and Recohuata hot springs. Tourists were frequently brought by the tours directly to the doors of the Raramuri who would then sell their crafts, give tours of their homes, and offer their services as guides. The tourist would then complete their "tour" by visiting the mission, hiking to the Valley of the Monks, or strolling around the lake. At the hot springs, Raramuri boys and men waited for tour groups at the edge of the canyon where they were then paid by the mestizo drivers to lead the tourists down to the hot springs. The mestizos clearly had the economic advantage in this relationship, even though they were dependent on Raramuri help and, indeed, their very existence. The Raramuri, recognizing the economic power of the mestizos, entered relationships because they saw it as a way to keep from being totally exploited.

Relationships between mestizos and Raramuri have changed with the tourist project, particularly in regards to access. On April 6 1992, there was much confusion within the mestizo community, especially among those involved in tourism, when tour vans and walking tourists began to be stopped at the entrance roads to the ejido and asked to pay an entrance fee. The fee-collectors had no identification, the entry gates were not marked, and by all appearances, it seemed as if loitering Arareco residents were merely panhandling. In response, all tours and promotion of the ejido was stopped until more information could be gathered. After a few days the president of COSYDDHAC revealed to the Creel community the existence of a tourist project.

The mestizo hotel owners, tour and taxi drivers, as well as other Creel citizens involved in tourism formed the Hotel Commission in order to address the developments in Arareco from a united standpoint. Soon after its formation, members of COSYDDHAC organized a meeting on April 12 between the Hotel Commission and the residents of Arareco to discuss plans for the ejido. With COSYDDHAC representatives, the press, and nearly 100 Raramuri present, the Hotel Commission expressed its suspicions about the project. Why had the project started so suddenly with no warning or advertising? Why was it eventually revealed by COSYDDHAC members and not by the Raramuri? Who controls the project? And, why are the entrance fees so high? The Raramuri present at the meeting remained conspicuously silent as COSYDDHAC members and the Hotel Commission argued about access, fees, and project control. The Commission requested that the project be controlled by the Raramuri and that the entrance fees be more reasonable. COSYDDHAC members vehemently denied they were controlling the project and then refused to lower entrance fees. Appealing to the Raramuri audience, the Hotel Commission offered to aid and even promote the Arareco Tourist Project if entry fees to the ejido were lowered. The president of COSYDDHAC, speaking "on behalf" of the Raramuri, refused the offer and told the Hotel Commission to accept the project as is; there would be no compromise. On that note, the meeting was adjourned.

The short-term result of the move was a boycott of Arareco by the mestizos who declared that the continuation of tours to Arareco was uneconomical because the entrance fee doubled the tour price. Consequently, tourism declined in Arareco. Although, this was in part due to decreased attractiveness of the region from evidence of planned development, the mestizos were an accessory to this decline by not offering tours, not advertising the ejido, and in most cases, behaving and talking as if the ejido was not even there. Tours were redirected to ejidos which had lower or no fees and cooperative relationships were forged or continued with individual Raramuri living outside of Arareco.

Issue IV - Community Cohesiveness

Community cohesiveness is the maintenance of relationships among a people who are bound by common characteristics. Before the tourist project there were considerably more similarities among Arareco ejido residents than after the project began. These differences, aggravated by an outside-assisted tourist project, have affected community cohesiveness.

A rift developed between the genders when the men's new income opportunities associated with the project began to interfere with the women's already established craft trade. Since long before the project started, the women of Arareco have been making dolls, baskets, yarn belts, and purses. They often sold their crafts directly from their homes or along the paths where tourists would walk. Sometimes, the women carried crafts into Creel, selling them in stores or on the street, but they preferred to stay close to home. Men had relatively lesser roles in tourism. Although some would assist in craft production (such as carved-dolls and instruments), most engaged in agriculture or odd jobs in Creel.

Since project implementation, the flow of tourists has decreased. The tourists who do enter the ejido do not buy as many crafts as they did before. Many of the women said that the high entrance fee keeps the tourists from spending so freely within the ejido. In order to sell crafts, a trip to town is no longer optional for women and their children but a necessity (Figure 4). Unfortunately, there is more competition for selling native crafts in Creel than there was in Arareco. Not only do the Arareco residents have to compete with the several handicraft stores, but also with Raramuri women from other ejidos. This has caused craft prices to be driven down. Meanwhile, the new employment opportunities generated by the project were primarily given to men. These jobs included fee-collection, construction, and running the rental services.

While some blame for the women's situation could be placed on the tourists and the mestizos, as well as the project and COSYDDHAC itself, the women blame the men. Because the project was voted upon in the all-male ejido council women were excluded from participating. Few of the jobs and none of the decisions were given to the women. Women, therefore, had little to with the project and distrust the use of potential income that the men control. According to many of the women in Arareco, the money from craft-selling goes to feeding and clothing the family while the men's income is frequently not as well spent. Alcohol abuse is a visible problem among men of

Figure 4. Selling crafts in Creel. Raramuri girl from Arareco sells woven belts at train station. Compare this scene with that in Figure 6, page 82. Photo by author.

Arareco and many women interviewed believe that the project supports their alcoholism.

Another disagreement developed, one between those who benefit directly from the project and those who do not. This division is particularly sharp between the Raramuri who live near or around Lake Arareco and those who live in more remote locations. Inequalities soon became apparent as the lake residents began constructing and working on project facilities which were based at the lake. Those Raramuri living away from the lake were involved little in construction and they reap few benefits. Coincidentally, the main leaders of the project (who are working with COSYDDHAC) are residents of the lake area and benefit the most from this project. The Lake area, unlike other sites, is adjacent to the highway so tourists can visit a limited area of the lake shore without paying an entrance fee. The majority of Arareco's residents live well within ejido borders and away from the highway. Some have no need for tourism benefits but others, especially those who live along popular hiking trails and vistas, have come to depend on tourism. The entrance fees have deterred the tour vans and the individual walking tourist from venturing into Arareco's interior. Therefore, profits disproportionately have benefited lake residents over others.

Conclusion

There are many consequences and unforeseen results of the Arareco Tourist Development Project. Economic development has been inconsistent and unequal in distributing benefits while tourist attractiveness has decreased partly from these same development plans. The inter-ethnic relations between the Raramuri and mestizos has been damaged as a result of this project and Arareco is therefore suffering from this lack of cooperation. The community of Arareco is less cohesive because the project has re-distributed benefits, disrupting gender roles and relations, redistributing income along gender lines, or allowed some to earn over others, like at Lake Arareco. What has not been extensively analyzed here is the crucial role of COSYDDHAC as the main proponent behind this project. Outside-assistance is analyzed in the concluding chapter.