BRANT’S STORY

HOW BRANT SECUNDA BECAME A SHAMAN

Brant Secunda completed a twelve-year apprenticeship with the late don Jose Matsuwa on 1978 to become a shaman and ceremonial leader in the Huichol Indian tradition. Living in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico, the Huichols are considered to be one of the last tribes in North America to have preserved their pre-Columbian traditions. Don Jose was a renowned Huichol Indian tribal elder and shaman who died at the age of 110.

Brant Secunda’s initiation into the Huichol Indian tribe was a five-day vision quest, a period of isolation in the wilderness without food and water, in a sacred cave in the Huichol Sierras known to the Huichols as the Cave of Grandmother Growth.

Other rites of passage included capturing and releasing a wild rattlesnake with his bare hands to face his fear of death, enduring a fourteen month fruit fast to enhance his sensitivity to the natural world, and surviving a nine-day vision quest so that he may, according to Huichol cosmology, learn the language of the gods. The nine-day vision quest, considered lengthy by Huichol standards, along with several other five-day vision quests, helped to establish Brant as a respected initiate within the Huichol nation.

THE FRIENDSHIP OF BRANT AND DON JOSE

Together, Brant and don Jose made pilgrimages to numerous holy sites throughout the Huichol Sierras, Europe, and the United States. For over two decades, they made the annual pilgrimage to the Huichol Holy land, Wirikuta. This high desert region, according to the Huichol cosmology, is the home of the mountain where the sun was born.

Brant’s apprenticeship culminated in a village ceremony in 1978. During this ceremony, don Jose honored Brant with the gift of his ceremonial belt, which was given to don Jose by his teacher. He then publically announced that Brant would take his place in the world and certified him as a Huichol shaman and lineage holder. Over the course of

Over the course of his apprenticeship, Brant Secunda became the close companion and adopted grandson of don Jose Matsuwa. The village members witnessed Brant’s transformation during his apprenticeship, beheld the mutual love and respect don Jose and Brant had for each other, developed kinship with him, taught him their native language, and they saw that his intentions were pure and grew to trust him as their own. Before don Jose passed away he asked

Before don Jose passed away he asked Brant to help take care of his wife, dona Josefa, the current shaman and elder of the village. He reminded Brant of his mission and told him, “I salute you. So, I want you to go on. I leave you in my place. Tell your people to celebrate life and follow the deer all the way to their hearts.” When don Jose died, dona Josefa honored Brant with the gift of don Jose’s revered medicine bundle.

THE DANCE OF THE DEER FOUNDATION

Don Jose always emphasized that the cultural survival of the Huichol people depended upon external awareness of the Huichol way of life. In 1979, Brant Secunda established the Dance of the Deer Foundation Center for Shamanic Studies to disseminate and preserve Huichol culture, practices, and traditions, and to provide direct assistance with the goal of promoting self-sufficiency and economic independence.

Nearly four decades later, the Dance of the Deer Foundation continues to support the Huichol people. Each year, the organization donates cooking equipment, clothing, farming tools and other essential supplies, as well as complete funding for the 250-mile springtime pilgrimage into the high desert to the mountain where the sun was born. Additionally, the foundation helps the Huichol conduct their Drum and Harvest Ceremony, which is a special gathering to honor the tribe’s woman and children.

SUPPORTING THE HUICHOL TRIBE

Brant Secunda works with several villages to provide economic solutions, which allow the Huichol people to remain on their land, sustain their traditional way of life, and conduct their ceremonies. Brant Secunda strives to provide the Huichols with a consistent market and the materials needed to produce their sacred artwork.

Huichol art is a visual library, which records the history and ancient cosmology of their oral tradition. The foundation markets the artwork in galleries and at seminars in the United States and Europe. Brant Secunda shares Huichol traditions with people worldwide and initiates projects to preserve Huichol culture.

For over two decades, the Dance of the Deer Foundation has documented Huichol culture on film, video, and audio in an ongoing effort to archive the material in books and in a Huichol museum for future generations. With one video already completed and released, Brant plans to edit footage for a second video and to complete various audio archives of Huichol folk music.

Brant Secunda has dedicated his life towards preserving the Huichol tradition as a living culture by working to integrate the ancient tools of shamanism into the modern world.

Members of the international medical, religious, and educational communities, including the World Health Organization, have recognized Brant’s commitment—as well as his knowledge—by inviting him to be featured speaker, workshop leader, and participant at various conferences worldwide. Moreover, Brant Secunda has created and maintains a working model for preserving Huichol culture through the auspices of the Dance of the Deer Foundation Center for Shamanic Studies.

BRANT’S STORY

BRANT’S STORY

HOW BRANT SECUNDA BECAME A SHAMAN

THE FRIENDSHIP OF BRANT AND DON JOSE

THE DANCE OF THE DEER FOUNDATION

SUPPORTING THE HUICHOL TRIBE

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