UNKNOWN MEXICO

[Music] so and now your true adventure host bill birth hi there this is bill bird saying welcome to adventure true adventure filmed as it happens throughout our fascinating world there's no more thrilling experience than a trip into the unknown the possibility of a new exciting discovery and this episode of true adventure is about such an event because we're going to travel through the rugged mountains of mexico to the hidden stronghold of the wicho and koro indian tribes only two white men have been here before no camera has ever filmed this area or these people our true adventurers gregory vernatson and robert calp will be shown strange tribal ceremonies see a sacred bull sacrifice to the rain god they'll live through a terrifying invasion by deadly scorpions among people who turned for aid to witch doctors i'm told that only four short years ago these people made a human sacrifice unbelievable because we usually think of mysterious jungles and primitive tribes in far-off lands but mexico so close to us well it still presents a tremendous challenge to the explorer its jungles are wild its mountains hold some of the deepest secrets in the history of mankind and i'm sure you're going to find this episode most exciting you'll meet in person one of the men who lived this adventure for us he'll tell us how it felt to go into forbidden territory in unknown mexico [Music] it's a strange sensation using modern means to leap into the past but that's what true adventurers bob kaup and greg gnatson are doing the plane that speeds them south into mexico is their final contact with the 20th century for a while they'll land soon and their first step out of that plane will plunge them headlong into an other era here barely a hundred miles north of modern guadalajara in mexico they hope to find and film the legendary korra and reachal indians whose grim tribal laws keep alive of mexico that vanished elsewhere with a spanish conquest things may look a little primitive in san juan peyoten their starting place but it's tame tame compared to what they know they'll face later right now a fiesta is in progress and the mood is a little like that of our old west actually if you watch carefully you'll see some of the vaqueros carrying guns on their hips they take over the town run it to suit themselves they're rough and tough [Music] the celebration includes a rodeo it stays right in the streets the rider's intent is to grab the tail of the bull and throw him the bull's intent is to cause as much trouble as he can and often does the local sheriff played host to the travelers and apologized that a corn bin was all he could offer for the night's shelter it doubled as a hotel and office while supplies were gathered and loaded for the next stages of the journey you can see that this is a true adventure trip this isn't what is termed in the tourist catalog as wonderful mexico a two and a half day pack trip would take them first to mesa del their first contact with the korra tribesmen the korah indians are not quite so savage as their witchel kin but the weird mixture of christian and pagan influences in their celebration leaves no doubt of their basic reaction to outsiders any outsiders especially white men this particular ritual performed to a haunting and measured drum beat recalls the tales the spanish told them of battles against the moors the indians hating the spanish identified their cause with the moors and so now as moros they ride again the hatred for their conquerors is cherished and kept alive [Music] drunks the drums of old mexico echoing and pulsing all through the day in the night greg and bob remembering that it was nearly christmas couldn't help but marvel at the cora indian stubborn will to preserve their pagan beliefs even when they had to be woven into the celebrations of another faith another celebration is in progress too the town's new officials assume their duties at the turn of the year and ritual gifts must be brought to them it's a ceremony of great importance the momentum of the ritual is constantly building spurred on by the nerve-shattering thud of the dance drum a hollow log that can be heard more than a mile away relays if dancers keep it going believe this or not four or five days on end [Music] [Music] now the climax of all of this is nearing it's a procession of forms men wearing a sugar cane framework that you see there they represent bulls and these so-called bulls can run freely through the crowd picking victims and chasing them he's no longer a bull apparently the eventual outcome is for the bulls to undergo a ritual of death at the hands of the morrows that we saw earlier but of course there's a long buildup to that moment you saw a bull chasing some boys there just a moment ago now i want to explain something the the usual close-ups that most cameramen like greg would shoot here are missing and for a very good reason the chief villain whose symbolic death is the whole point of this ceremony is the detested white man the cora image of their spanish oppressors there you see them the town never gave our crew more than the most grudging acceptance and tempers were especially high during this ritual and there were quite a few things said which the fellas didn't understand too well and so bob and greg stayed out of the midst of the crowd just so no one would be tempted to substitute a real cameraman for the ritual white man who was to be sacrificed the white man is dead now experts on this area have since told bob and greg that they were perfectly justified in their fears tribal pride runs so high that even a mestizo a mexican of mixed blood may be killed as a warning to others who might think of forgetting their eternal hatred and now our trail leads to the mountain stronghold of the weichel the wichial indians who can outdo the korah indians in all of the grim traits that we've been telling you about there's chalati ahead but there's no way of guessing what the reaction would be the very first white man ever to visit this village the first days proved to be deceptively peaceful our crew was tempted to think that the stories of the witchel indians hostility to strangers were exaggerated they were still very much on their guard they became more familiar with the tribe and learned of their skill and such unexpected things as embroidery ah but that's women's work the men are more concerned with developing their skill with a small but deadly accurate witchell bowl there are musical people using homemade guitars and violins their songs have a bizarre oriental quality which greg reports he heard nowhere else in mexico just to be on the safe side though our party camped well on the outskirts of the village but there wasn't any way to ensure safety from the scorpions which infest this region but bob and greg had been warned in advance of that risk they did have enough anti-venom for their own use and some despair for the several native victims that they had a chance to help along the way there's the hypodermic and the anti-venom there's the scorpion a good thing too because there never seemed to be any shortage of scorpions who were anxious to share their bed roll with them scorpions and malaria are the prevalent curses here and the witch doctor is the only defense to against them the huichols put deep faith in the ability of the prayer feathers to draw forth the poison so that the doctor can spit it on the ground and let the whirlwinds carry it away i want you to note something about the exotic materials that are included in the doctor's kit bundles of corn from the first spring crop dipped in blood mystic arrows plumes from rare birds to guide them in their flight now here is a typical sample of a people's desperate effort to deal with the mysterious hostile world around them this woman had been bitten by a scorpion very sick she is now being treated by the witch doctor i've never seen pictures made like this indian witch doctor working his magic upon this sick woman [Music] well the success of their first stay encouraged bob and greg to pack further into wichial country but chalate was one thing san andreas comiata might be another story they couldn't forget the reputation that it had as the unfriendliest of all the wichial settlements [Music] san andreas comiata all our party knew about it was that they could expect to find the ruins of a mission left by the jesuits when the indians forced them out 200 years ago the witchel indians one of the oldest most primitive groups in all of mexico oh yes one other fact the most recent missionary to attempt to return here had his camera smashed from his hand by a machete blow a few smiles that bob and greg won from the younger residents didn't quite offset the effect of having heard those stories the general mood was one of tension the fellas were told exactly where to camp they were encouraged not to wander from that area there was great difficulty in getting all the shots that you'll be seeing the witcher indians have a special bitterness against cameras now it's it's quite a thing to be framing a shot in your viewfinder and notice that your subjects are restlessly funneling their uh machetes long sharp knives they attempt to film the banco ceremony where the townsmen bring gifts to the officials as we saw earlier was especially touchy you see the broncos ceremony is a thinly disguised form of bribery and the officials seem to have their doubts about having the evidence of it recorded and i think that that might have some truth too this is the banco ceremony there you see a photograph of a gift being taken in but all the other troubles were mild compared to what shaped up when the male villagers began chewing peyote it's a narcotic the trance-like ecstasy that this drug induces has a sacred significance to the wichial indians and our crew was strictly forbidden to approach the house set aside for its use so we had to use a telephoto lens and camouflage it somewhat like shooting wildlife [Music] these are amazing pictures they seem to sense that we were doing something here's a picture of what happens from peyote it seems to be out of focus it's just a shot at a tremendous distance the mood of the villagers were obviously uh hostile and the sight of the vultures circling overhead seemed to emphasize it [Music] a bell was rung excitement has risen now to a pitch where the villagers are ready for a climactic moment a living bull has been prepared for a sacrifice even in this brutally pagan right there's the living bull a few threads of christian usage can be recognized the high priest's robes look as if they were intended to resemble the garments of the missionaries the witches themselves drove out and you can sense that the tribe still admits an occult significance to such things as the cross even though its meaning and has been perverted over the years [Music] one thing is very clear the witchels are not happy that a stranger should see this ceremony you know a moment ago i told you about peyote and the house that we tried to photograph here is the result under the influence of peyote the meat of the sacrificed bull is carried away to trees to be hung and dried the ritual bull is a sacrifice to the gods in the hope of rain and good crops but men are allowed to share the meat they wait a full day before doing so however then it becomes a great dish at the main feast it is prepared with much prayer and singing through the night and served along with corn cakes mezcal stalks zapote nevertheless needless to say a lot of drinking accompanies the feast and bob and greg noticed the vultures chose this moment to put in another appearance our crew didn't need any reminders the crowd made its feeling apparent about being photographed at this point astonishing to see pictures photograph within all two or three hundred miles of a main large city in mexico where no white man has ever set foot the wichial guide was also very helpful he went to great pains to translate for them every time somebody made a threatening remark about strangers angering the gods and spoiling the rain feast but again actions speak louder than words he wasn't telling them anything that the crowd's gestures hadn't already made plain they certainly were not welcome [Music] now some of the women that you're seeing are not women but men dressed up as women this is another part of this pagan ceremony which apparently nobody seemed to understand that is or could explain to them you see they do they still use the cross ironically our party knew that their real troubles would really start when everybody sobered up from the drugs the narcotics and the other strong things that they were drinking so before the hangover could take effect they negotiated for supplies to carry them further on their journey there was one more thing to see a secret cave outside san andreas [Music] it was so sacred to the witchel that even though greg was able to bribe a guide to take them there it was agreed that they would meet on the trail so that his aid to our party would never be known the reason for its great importance to the witchel indians is that they regard this cave as the source of the rio santiago they're only linked with a sea and to them as you'll see later on the sea is a symbol of fertility a supreme symbol so potent it still demands human sacrifice our party was told that a young girl was killed here only four years ago during a season of terrible drought looking at these primitive artifacts that have been here for centuries we found something that was astonishing you'll see it in just a moment an arc figure it refers to a huichol legend of a great flood it is almost identical there it is to our christian story but independent in origin the guide still nervous was busy outside the cave weaving a god's eye this fiber totem is supposed to protect him and his travels and he had long since decided he needed all the protection he could get as for bob and gray they knew that the worst of their troubles were over now there were still rough waters to cross one portage cost them their precious recordings of feature music and the recorder as well but the route now led away from the heart of the hostile twitchil indian region they followed the river rio santiago to the sea [Music] a few hours paddling took them into surroundings of rare tropic beauty they knew that they were nearing the coast of niary [Music] [Music] birds of beautiful plumage the coastal area was once the home of the witchel indians they retreated to the mountains in order to safeguard their old ways they still make frequent pilgrimages to carry water from the sea to the headwaters of the rio santiago you see they think that mingling of salt and fresh water will assure them of rain right now greg decided he'd better assure himself of some food because they hadn't eaten well the last two three days [Music] they searched and saw an iguana shore greg fired actually they decided to stick to the ducks that they were able to shoot and take the natives word for the fact that the huge iguana lizards taste just like chicken then the pacific at last bob and greg get an idea of how balboa must have felt discovering it they've crossed much the same sort of country he would have had to cross the trip has brought them to the final stop now a small island north of san blas legend calls it the watering place of the old king nayar the witchel considered a very sacred favorable place to perform marriage rights here we see an amazing picture of the whichever marriage right throughout the year couples make the six day journey down from the hills to reach it [Music] the service performed this way in the open air has a haunting beauty the vows remind the couple of examples in nature the ravens who were once people and still go in pairs mystic arrows fired into the sea assure them of long life and fertility puzzling bitter hostile and yet with a code of values all their own the witchel are as much of a riddle now to bob and greg as when they first heard of them but the chance to try to know them was a challenge no one who has a zest for true adventure would ever want to pass up [Music] ladies and gentlemen i'd like to have you meet one of our two adventurers gregory veunatsen who along with his fine partner robert colby culp made this tremendous story for us we're most grateful to have you come on the program uh greg i think the question in all of our minds is what made you choose this part of mexico to go to well bill we decided it was one of the most isolated spots left in this hemisphere well when the huichos were giving you a bad time and sort of threatening you give us in your own words how you felt well we were anxious you know what was going to happen now you did you talk to them or bob was the linguist he did the translating of course in a way that might have made you a little more nervous because you didn't know what they were saying well it's surprising but you sense what's going on if he looked worried you got worried right now uh why did you choose a life of adventure because i know you're not going to stop with this one well i think the appeal of strange peoples in their ways is what motivates me have you got any future plans any secret place on the face of our globe you want to go to well we're planning a trip to the galapagos islands gee that's tremendously exciting and and the reason for it is because of the mammals and animals that live in yes the various creatures darwin's interest the whole theory of evolution will unfold and may we have it for our true adventure we're planning to bring it back to you gregory we're very pleased that you came here and visited us and we want to thank you and bob and we want to wish you by the way a lot of luck at the galapagos islands in making the picture down there and by the way i'd like to thank you for sharing this true adventure with us and until we meet again this is bill bird saying may all your adventures be happy one [Music] my [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign