The PUKES, syncretism in Michoacan, Mexico

This series document the dance of the PUKES (or also called TIGRES (Tigers), which is a ritual held each year in the mountains of the state of Michoacan, Mexico. Hundred of men wearing deer heads celebrate the Virgen of the Rosario, carrying dolls (representation of the Virgen) that they lift in the air following a predetermined choreography . The dance sits in a framework of Christian mysticism and reminiscences of pre-Columbian religious beliefs and is a formidable manifestation of syncretism: in Pre-hispanic times, the skin of "Tsitsispuki" (jaguar), was a symbol of power, as well as the deer's skin which was reserved to the nobles. Energy and power still conveyed to this day...