Urban migration, social networks, and sleep in the Wixárika of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico
Study site: Guadalajara
Study population: Wixárika (also known as Huichol)
The Wixárika (also known as Huichol) are an indigenous people living in the mountains of Jalisco and Nayarit, Mexico. Wixáritari (plural of Wixárika) have been resistant to colonization, upholding their traditional, pre-Christian religious practice through the colonization that led the rise of Catholicism in Mexico. Their traditional religious practice and animist worldview permeates daily life and is marked by deep spiritualism that values connection to nature, place, and ancestors (Schaefer & Furst, 1996). However, traditional Wixárika communities are geographically isolated, and globalization has led to increased pressure to find work outside of traditional ways of life. This has prompted many Wixárika to move to larger Mexican cities, away from their families, homes, and religious centres.
This project examines the social networks and sleep of indigenous Wixárika in the context of globalization and increased migration away from their traditional rural communities. Research questions are based on the Social Safety Theory (Slavich, 2020), the idea that perceptions of social safety are critical to health outcomes, including sleep. We hypothesize that living in urban contexts that are isolated from traditional social networks will be associated with poorer quality sleep due to greater social stress, and that living in traditional rural communities will be associated with better sleep as a result of lower levels of social stress.
This project contributes to human sleep ecology research in a number of ways. First, it describes sleep in the Wixárika, thereby expanding our understanding of sleep at the population level. Second, findings increase our knowledge of the effects of migration and urban living on sleep patterns. Furthermore, through a better understanding of traditional Wixárika social networks, our research will provide a cross-cultural perspective on the universality of the need for social connection.
SHEL Members: Leela McKinnon, David R. Samson
References
Schaefer, S. B. & Furst, P. T. (1996). Introduction. In S. B. Schaefer & P. T. Furst (Eds.), People of the Peyote: Huichol Indian History, Religion, and Survival (pp. 1–25). Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press.
Slavich, G. M. (2020). Social Safety Theory: A Biologically Based Evolutionary Perspective on Life Stress, Health, and Behavior. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 16(1): 265–295. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032816-045159