Rarámuri

Ariché

Stronger than most of the Rarámuri men, Ariché is kept at a distance by her tribe. Trained by her great grandfather Bajuí in the realms and evocations, she is one of the few women to ever see beyond the Rarámuri territories.

Moró

Exiled for a life that was never his own, Moró's towering build and strength underscore his difference from anyone around him. Quiet, gentle, but never underestimated, he is Bajuí's personal project kept from the reach of others.

Rimuma

A born healer, compassionate brother to Ariché, and dedicated student, Rimuma maintains the practice and beliefs of his tribe. He never harms, he never hinders, and refuses to kill....except those that may harm his sister, Ariché.

Bimorí

The daughter of Bajuí's most powerful student, Bimorí has spent her life alongside her little brother, Moró. She has learned about the realms most fear and is an elite runner who has seen lands her tribe will never know existed.

Bajuí

Ageless and aloof, he is a loving shaman, healer, and timeless educator. Older than the tribe's collective memory, he claims to have forgotten where he comes from and prefers to focus on where others are going.

Location

Isolated in the mile-deep canyons of the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Rarámuri peoples of Northern Mexico maintained their way of life for centuries despite external imperial forces.

Having settled in the area over 2,000 years ago, the Rarámuri were rarely seen or heard by surrounding tribes. The Mexica (Aztec), the Chichimec tribes of the Northern plains, and most of the surrounding Uto-Aztec descendent tribes, avoided the canyons due to the bizarre "ghosts" that haunted their depths.

The Rarámuri cultivated their ability to run for extreme distances with near preternatural speed due to the elevation shift from the top of the Sierra Madre Occidental to the depths of the Urique Canyon. Casual runners can clear distances of 30 - 40 miles with ease while elite runners can cover 100 miles at a time.

Rarámuri territory is home to a vast array of climates due to its dramatic shift in elevation. It is not uncommon to find corn harvests in the high plains while discovering tropical fruits in the canyons and snow on the highest peaks.

Beliefs

Pre-columbian Rarámuri belief systems were anchored in a matriarchal-based worship of the moon. Tribal life cycles were measured in lunar phases with night being a sacred time of worship and ritual.

Rooted in animism, the Rarámuri regard all things with an inherent life-energy akin to a soul. This life-energy flows through all things and embodies specific characteristics and attributes found in nature.

The tribe focuses on harmony with all things and believes in the concept of koríma: any abundance is shared, any need is met by all. There is no such thing as debt, as there is no concept for money.

Living beings are capable of embodying additional life-energy forces or can become vulnerable to possession of malicious life-energy forces resulting in soul sickness. Before the arrival of the Spanish, there was no concept of evil for the Rarámuri. The tribe only saw living beings as being sick or healed.

However, after the arrival of the Spanish, evil was solidified with the brutality the Rarámuri witnessed at the hands of the colonizers. Lacking a word for the concept of evil, they simply referred to it as "white-flesh-monster".

Warfare & Conflicts

The Rarámuri pre-date most other tribes within their territory making it very difficult to conclude on pre-Columbian warfare or conflicts with neighboring tribes.

Surrounding tribal oral-traditions hint at ancient Rarámuri tribes being tenacious warriors who either ran their enemies off cliffs or outpaced them to exhaustion. Enemies were either beaten to death or beheaded along with portions of the enemies spine torn free.

It is important to note that these are merely stories, most likely fabricated to keep warring parties away from Rarámuri territory. Many, if not most Rarámuri, do not believe in violence or aggression and instead resolve conflict by sharing food, corn-brewed beer, and medicinal herbs.

After a brief alliance with the Zacatecatl tribes in resisting the Spanish at the end of the 16th century, the Rarámuri vanished into their canyons once again. Three hundred years would pass before they allowed any other European-Anglo person to learn of their existence once again.

Modern Day

Despite being hidden away from most of the world for centuries, the modern world eventually found the Rarámuri tribe.

The lush lands of the Sierra Madre Occidental became the target of multiple modern-day industries. Mining and logging were two of the most damaging industries that infiltrated the Rarámuri territories. The exploitation of the land has seen sizable deforestation and damage to the natural environments surrounding the area.

Drug cartels and human traffickers began to exploit the peaceful and quiet Rarámuri tribes in the late 20th century. Any form of resistance was met with brutality, murder, assassinations of tribal leaders, and intimidation.

Once again, this ancient tribal people are forced to endure the external world's conflict of power, corruption, and greed.

In 2025, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum returned 2,000 hectres of land back to the Rarámuri, acknowledging their autonomy, culture, and contributions to Mexico's history.

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