Displaying 19 - 30 of 30
Displaying 21 - 29 of 29
Birth of the Sun - Yarn painting by Guadalupe González Ríos 1973

Message from the Gods: Unite to Defend the Birthplace of the Sun - Part III

Tracy Barnett
| December 2012
They came by the hundreds from the Western Sierra Madre, native Wixarika or Huichol people on a spiritual quest, seeking to consult with the spirits of their ancestors and of the land where their world began. They came in their ceremonial dress, colorfully embroidered with their sacred symbols of the deer, the eagle and the peyote. They came with offerings they had fashioned from beads and gourds and candle wax, offerings they had made precious with their love and their prayers, as their forebears had done for centuries.
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Maude Barlow, Real de Catorce - Photograph ©Tracy Barnett 2012

Canada meets Wirikuta: Canadian Author Visits Birthplace of the Sun

Tracy Barnett
| November 2012
"Maude’s mission was a different one. She had come to see for herself what was at stake in Wirikuta, this most sacred of Huichol holy sites, currently slated for exploitation by Canadian mining companies. Her goal was to connect with the people being affected by these mining proposals and see what, if anything, the social action groups she leads can do to help. She had come to Mexico to participate in the Permanent People’s Tribunal regarding the devastating effects of mega-hydroelectric projects throughout the region. And she wanted to investigate first-hand some of the impacts of Canadian mining companies in Mexico. “We Canadians feel embarrassed and ashamed of what is being done in our names,” she had said on the winding cobblestone road to this place. She had just paid a visit to the sad vestiges of Cerro de San Pedro, the colonial mountain town whose fate the defenders of Wirikuta hope to avoid.
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Biosphere Reserve in Wirikuta

Wixarika Respond to Government Proposal For Biosphere Reserve in Wirikuta

John Ahni Schertow
| November 2012
Wixarika leaders are welcoming a new government proposal to declare a Biosphere Reserve in Wirikuta. However, they warn of inconsistencies and dangerous propaganda that is being instigated by First Majestic Silver, the Canadian mining company that wants to gut the Sacred Territory of the Wixárika (Huichol) people. Once again they demand to be included in the process as the government prepares to issue a final decree.
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Yauxali and his son walk in Wirikuta - Photograph ©Juan Negrín 1978-2018

Campaign Update–Mexico: Proposed Biosphere Could Protect Wirikuta

| November 2012
The federal government of Mexico has proposed the creation of a Biosphere Reserve in the area of Wirikuta, sacred site to the Wixarika (Huichol) people and the battle ground for a silver mine first proposed by Canadian company First Majestic Silver, and others. The biosphere reserve would cover 191,000 hectares, according to Mexico’s National Commission on Natural Protected Areas. On November 8th, the Consejo Regional Wixarica and the Frente en Defense de Wirikuta anncouned their decision. Wixarika leaders will welcome the government proposal to declare a Biosphere Reserve in Wirikuta, but warn of inconsistencies and dangerous propaganda instigated by the mining company among the local population. Once again they demand to be included in the process as the government prepares to issue a final decree.
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Huichol ‘cosmic portal’ peyote ceremonies threatened by silver mine

Huichol ‘Cosmic Portal’ Peyote Ceremonies Threatened by Silver Mine

William Booth
| February 2012
For the Huichol Indians, the desert mountains here are sacred, a cosmic portal with major mojo, where shamans collect the peyote that fuels the waking dreams that hold the universe together. For a Canadian mining company, these same hills look like a billion dollars worth of buried silver.
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Wixarika delegation organizers say: "Save Wirikuta: The Sacred Heart of Mexico" [Gabriela Delgadillo/Al Jazeera]

Battle for 'birthplace of the sun' in Mexico

Tracy Barnett
| October 2011

The context seems like a movie script, but it's deadly serious to the Wixarika, whose core cultural practice for more than a thousand years has consisted of regular pilgrimages to Wirikuta, the birthplace of the sun: a magical desert where the balance of life on Earth is maintained through a sacred cactus that carries the wisdom of a blue deer.

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Tuimayau ~ ©Juan Negrín 1990

What is Wirikuta?

Florencia Podesta
| January 2011
Wirikuta is one of the most important natural sacred sites of the Wixárika (Huichol) indigenous people and the world. The Wixárika people live in the states of Jalisco, Nayarit and Durango and are recognized for having preserved their spiritual identity. They have continued to practice their cultural and religious traditions for thousands of years. Wirikuta is the birthplace of the sun and the territory where the different Wixárika communities make their pilgrimage, recreating the route taken by their spiritual ancestors to sustain the essence of life on this planet. In this desert springs the peyote or jicuri, the cactus that the Wixárika ritually ingest to receive the “gift of seeing”.
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Maude Barlow atop Cerro Quemado with Santos de la Cruz 2010

Bad Neighbours: Canadian Mining companies in Latin America

Lisa North
| December 2010
Last Year Alone, at least five opponents of Canadian mining projects were assassinated in Latin America: three in El Salvador, one in Guatemala, and one in Mexico. Critics of mining operations there and elsewhere were wounded and maimed in attacks while many, along with their family members, were threatened.
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Consejo Regional Wixárika abril 2024

Comunidad Wixarika sale en defensa de sus sitios sagrados

Héctor Escamilla Ramírez

Integrantes de pueblos wixaritari señalaron que están a la espera de la sentencia final del juicio de amparo que desde 2010 mantienen para la protección de Wirikuta en el estado de San Luis Potosí, un sitio sagrado y parte fundamental de su cosmovisión. Esta mañana sesionó el Consejo General Wixárika donde señalan que seguirán con la defensa de este territorio, que es amenazado por intereses de empresas mineras. “Exigimos que se dé atención prioritaria al asunto legal y se exige que la decisión del juez sea acorde al marco jurídico internacional en materia de derechos fundamentales de los p

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