Yaqui Man of Knowledge, Cachora

October 25, 2012 — 6 Comments

The first time I saw Cachora he was sitting in the shade using a needle and thread to thread tiny seed beads. He was about 85 years old,  wearing no glasses. The sight of him actually able to do this made me laugh hard out loud.  He commented without looking up, in Spanish, saying he was just another Indian doing handicrafts.  I had been told that he was Don Juan.  He spreads this rumor himself, but it is not hard to figure out that he isn’t.

Cachora at the bead table

I asked him if he was a shaman, to which he responded negatively. He said he was a man of knowledge.  He then began to tell me his entire cosmology.  He began with his birthday and place, then his parents birthdays and place.  He and his father were born in Rio Yaqui, Sonora, like Don Juan.  Cachora’s mother was from Oaxaca.  His parents had met while collecting plants for medicine.  He told me his parents had never used pesos in their lives, but had traded medicinal plants for all they needed.  This was their craft and way of life.  The vest he shows here belonged to his father, and was worn for healing ceremonies.  That is the case, if Cachora is telling the truth about this vest.  He is what is known in the world of medicine as a coyote.  He lies a lot, misleading and amusing himself with the confusion of others.  So I took the birthday information and went to a book store to buy and reread A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda.  The first fact given about Don Juan is this birthday, many years before Cachora’s.

symbols on the healing vest

This man of knowledge became my friend.  I called him on the Don Juan thing on my second visit.  I also remembered to bring him what he wanted rather than money.  This practice made me a favorite.  His first requests were for some specific stone beads, some hummingbird feeders, and some reading glasses.  I returned with his wish list items about three months after we had met.  I used to hang out and joke with him, learning a little about plants.  He told me that I am a siren.

Cachora and the healing vest

I spoke with a friend in Tijuana last year and learned that he was still alive and kicking.  His much younger wife, Josefina, had died, but he was in the company of a young girlfriend from Spain.  He is not Don Juan, but, as he puts it, there is some of him in all those books.  South of Tecate, in the valley of the sorcerer, a Yaqui hombre de conocimiento named salamander (that is the translation of Cachora) is still in the business of knowledge.

beaded vest