When the Spaniards first came, they found no musical instruments among the Tarahumares except the short reed flute, so common to many Mexican tribes, the shaman's rattle, and the rasping stick.

But they soon introduced the violin and even the guitar, and throughout Mexico the Indians now make these instruments themselves, using pine wood and other indigenous material in their construction, sometimes with remarkable skill and ingenuity, and for glue the juice of a certain lily root.

Having no idea of the value of money, they frequently sell a tolerably good instrument for fifty or even twenty-five cents.
Toward evening the Tarahumare father of a family gets more talkative and chats with his wife, and then "The day is done, and the darkness Drops from the wings of night As a feather is wafted downward From an eagle in his flight." And as the shadows deepen, he wraps himself closer in his blanket, and before he knows it childlike slumber enfolds him.

Frequently he grows hungry in the middle of the night, and reaches out for food, as well as for his violin, devoting himself to music for half an hour, before he drops off to sleep again.
There are more women in the tribe than men, and they are looked upon as of less importance.

There is a saying among the people that one man is as good as five women.