Between 60,000 and 75,000 Tarahumara Indians now live in the Copper Canyon. These Indians retreated to the Canyon over a period of a hundred or more years as the Spaniards moved northward and the Tarahumara's tried to avoid them. Many of them now live in the most remote and inaccessible places the mountains have to offer in small groups of three to six or eight families. For the most part they are subsistence farmers of corn and squash and herders of goats and cattle. 

Their children attend boarding schools that may be a six hour or more walk from their homes. They walk in on Sunday night and walk out on Friday night. Many times the parents will leave the children at the school for several months. Although the living conditions in the boarding schools are primitive by our standards, the children are well-fed and do receive attention from the teachers and school employees. 

There are very few roads in the area but there are hundreds and probably thousands of trails that the Tarahumaras use to get around. They call themselves Raramuri, which in their language means "runner" or "the people who run". They are famous for their feats of running, preferring to run in races of 50 to 100 miles or more. In the 1968 Mexico City Olympics several Tarahumara Indians were entered in the marathon but did not do well. After the race they complained that the race was too short, that it was not worthy of a real runner and that they had been made to wear running shoes instead of being allowed to run in their traditional sandals. At a later date they entered the Leadville 100, a trail run in the Colorado mountains of 100 miles, and they did considerably better there taking first, second, fifth and tenth places. The tenth place finisher had worn a new pair of sandals and developed severe blisters, which seems a good reason to finish back in the pack a bit. An American by the name of Caballo Blanco has, for the last few years, sponsored a 50 mile race in and around the village of Urique which is open to all runners who want to participate. For more information on the race google Caballo Blanco.

Jesuit priests had a presence in the area untill about 1770 when they were expelled by the King of Spain. There were no priests in the Copper Canyon for over one hundred years but the indians kept the Catholic religion alive and added considerably to it by incorporating many of their old beliefs into the faith. To this day they have a very special Semana Santa celebration that attracts visitors from many parts of the Christian world.

With the advent of the Copper Canyon train the indians have taken to selling their traditional baskets to the attendant tourists. The baskets can be found at most of the lodges, the train stop at Divisidero and some of the small towns in the canyon.