Xitaima Lucía Lemus de la Cruz

(1953 - 2022)

The daughter of members of the Tuapurie community of Jalisco, she was born in Ruiz, Nayarit. When she was 14, she met Pablo Taizán, Yauxali, in Picachos, Nayarit, and they began a life of joint work and pilgrimage, travelling on several occasions to the sacred semi-desert of Wirikuta and to other sacred places for the Wixárika people. She began making yarn pictures with her husband and comments that "one day it occurred to me to make pictures of thoughts that I have in my head." She says that Pablo "taught me many things that I must now continue." During the majority of her life she resided in her ranch near the coast of Nayarit and dedicated herself to healing and conducting ceremonies for an intercultural network of followers. Yauxali and Xitaima had nine children, five of whom are alive and continue the family tradition in arts and culture.