The Huichol or Wixárika (pronounced we-SHA-re-kaare) an indigenous people in western central Mexico, living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango. They are best known to the world as the Huichol, however, they refer to themselves as Wixárika in their own language.[1] The term Wixárika means “those who dress in honor of our Ancestors”. [2]
For more than 1,000 years, the Wixárika have made pilgrimages from their ceremonial centers in the Sierra Madre across the Chihuahua desert to Leunar, the sacred mountain where the sun first rose. The Wixárika pilgrims traverse over 300 miles to reach Leunar, stopping to give offerings and prayers at dozens of sacred places along the way – the natural temples of a deeply spiritual people. They undertake their journey, which they call their “essence,” to retrace the steps of creation, repeating the prayers of their ancestors in order to maintain the earth’s equilibrium and keep their culture alive. [3]
Resources
Background Information on Mexico: Stop Mining. Save Sacred Sites–Cultural Survival
Wixirika-An online archive of Huichol art, history and culture
Defensa de Wirikuta on Facebook
Salvemos Wirikuta on Facebook
No a la Mineria con Cianuro y a Cielo abierto en Real de Catorce Facebook
Salvemos Wirikuta – Tamatzima Huaha Blog
The Esperanza Project – Wixarika Archive
