After 26 years, it is decided whether the Wixárika Route will be included on the UNESCO list.

▲ The corridor passes through Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, and Durango. Here, Wixaritari pilgrims from the ceremonial center of Las Latas walk along the construction of the Bolaños-Huejuquilla Highway near Jutze Hill, where a ceremonial stone once stood. Photo by José Carlo González

Reyes Martínez Torrijos

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, July 12, 2025, p. 2

After a nearly three-decade struggle by the Wixárika people, this weekend, a decision will be made in Paris on whether to add the route through the sacred sites to Wirikuta to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List.

The draft resolution of the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee, transmitted through the website https://whc.unesco.org/en/sessions/47COM/ , emphasizes that the sacred itinerary Tatehuarí Huajuyé (The Path of Our Grandfather Fire) is one of the most representative pre-Columbian routes still in use in the Americas .

He explains that this is an exceptional testament to the persistence of the Wixárika people's cultural traditions and an exceptional example of the interrelationship between culture and the natural environment in the spiritual practices of this indigenous people.

The final analysis of the proposal for the 20-part series of a corridor of more than 500 kilometers through the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, and Durango is scheduled for today, around 10:00 a.m. Mexico City time. Representatives of the Wixárika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta and its Sacred Sites, Santos de la Cruz and Totupica Candelario, will be in attendance.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) reported that the exceptional universal value of the Wixárika route is based on the connection of sacred sites with fundamental elements of that tradition, such as fire, rain, corn, peyote, the golden eagle, the wolf or the deer, through traditional and sophisticated ritual activities that include cultivation, hunting, gathering and fishing .

He explained that the combination of ceremonial pilgrimages to sacred natural sites, ancestral agroforestry practices, vernacular architecture, the architectural model of temples, and ritual cycles that revolve around the cultivation of Wixárika corn constitutes the most exceptional living testimony to the ancient cultural models of Mesoamerica .

It is noted, however, that these areas could be subject to significant pressures due to mining, urbanization, use of private lands and culturally inappropriate tourism, particularly related to peyote use .

The initiative, which emerged towards the end of the last century, was strengthened by the predominant participation of the Wixaritari communities, supported by the federal government, through the INAH, and the associated state governments.

A Management Unit will be established to coordinate the management of the serial property and the implementation of the Comprehensive Management, Conservation, and Safeguarding Plan (2024-2030) with a biocultural focus. A protection and monitoring system is in place, administered by the Wixárika Regional Council.

Inappropriate cultural tourism, a threat

In an interview with La Jornada, Francisco Vidargas, head of the INAH World Heritage Directorate, said that the Wixaritari communicated to the federal agency their concern about the emergence of tourism developments in these areas, driven by the outdated issue of cultural tourism that wants to go to Wirikuta to consume peyote and with that say that they feel identified with the Wixárika people , although the risk is located closer to Real de Catorce, which borders the last point of the sacred itinerary.

He highlighted the economic interests affecting Wirikuta, especially those of mining companies and landowners. In the Sierra Madre Occidental, where the most important communities in Jalisco are located, land ownership has led to the murder of Wixárika leaders defending their territory in recent years .

In 2023, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed a decree prohibiting mining companies from continuing exploitation at five Wixárika sacred sites, including Cerro Gordo in Durango and San Blas in Nayarit, which are also part of the route proposed to UNESCO for inclusion as a World Heritage Site. This is linked to the creation of the Wixárika, O'dam-Au'dam, Náayeri, and Mexikan Justice Plan.

One of the Wixaritari's demands was that the route be protected from vandalism, as it is made up of very small and fragile elements, such as a stream or a mound, as well as some structures, like in Cerro Gordo, where there is an adobe building; on the island of San Blas, for example, a sacred site for them can be a hill, a tree, or a rock , Vidargas said.

Unprotected ceremonial sites

He explained that the Wixaritari leave offerings at these sites, "which are immersed in the vast natural landscape of the route and lack protection or fencing. Some are even within private properties where the owners allow them to pass through and perform ceremonies, such as Cerro Gordo in Durango.

Although the proposal was registered under the title "Huichol Route through the Sacred Sites to Huiricuta," it is expected to be modified with the participation of one of the countries with a voice and vote on the World Heritage Committee, so that it will be registered as the Wixárika Route through the Sacred Sites to Wirikuta. "We believe it is fundamentally fair to name the site correctly ," Vidargas said.

The registration includes the creation of a Management Unit to coordinate the management of the serial asset and the implementation of the Comprehensive Management, Conservation and Safeguarding Plan (2024-2030), and includes a protection and monitoring system, administered by the Wixárika Regional Council.

▲ A Wixárika jicarero from Las Latas walks near the Nueva Colonia community, Mezquitic, Jalisco, in 2008. Photo by José Carlo González

Reyes Martínez Torrijos

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, July 12, 2025, p. 3

The declaration of the Wixárika Route as a World Heritage Site is encouraging news for this indigenous people and their allies who are confronting the monster of mining concessions , said lawyer and activist Santos de la Cruz.

The representative of the Wixárika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta said in an interview with La Jornada that the nomination to include the route on the list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) emerges directly from the ceremonial centers of our people .

He added that it is essential and one of the demands raised is linked to the fact that for many years our grandparents have always instilled in us that sacred place of Wirikuta, where we go year after year with the purpose of following the path of our ancestors .

The sacred route, described as a braid of trails in the proposal to UNESCO, crosses Cuyetsarie, Xurahue Muyaca, Cupuri Mutiú, Cacai Mutijé, Macuipa and Tatei Nihuetúcame, in Zacatecas; Huahuatsari, Cuhixu Uheni, Tatei Matiniere, Nihuetaritsié, Natsitacua, Uxa Tequipa, Tuy Mayau, Huacuri Quitenie, Huiricuta: Mucuyahue, Huiricuta: Raúnax and Huiricuta: Maxa Yaritsie, in San Luis Potosí; Tatei Jaramara, in Nayarit, and Hauxa Manaka (Cerro Gordo), in Durango.

De la Cruz, born in the Wirárika community of San Andrés Cohamiatam, in Mezquitic, Jalisco, said that this historic demand gained strength around 2009 when they learned of the presence of mining concessions in the Wirikuta area: How was it possible that the Mexican State itself had approved them!

He recalled that many proposals emerged at the time, including fighting for Wirikuta to be recognized within the Convention on the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Humanity, which would mean the material protection of the territory and everything within this sacred place. Despite the fact that it is a state ecological reserve, mining was permitted.

The Wirikuta Management Plan as a protected natural area stipulates a board of directors that includes, for example, municipal presidents and prominent mining figures, the lawyer lamented; however, traditional governors or Wixaritari jicarero presidents are not included. The true representatives of that community are not making decisions , but a group called the Wixárika Union of Ceremonial Centers is recognized.

He emphasized that after inclusion in the Convention on the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Humanity, those who decide should be Wixaritari representatives or authorities, in coordination with the relevant agencies.

The Wixárika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta, which is promoting this demand, is made up of traditional, civil, and agrarian authorities from different communities, elected in their assemblies. It is a movement of the Wixárika people.

Santos de la Cruz emphasized that the intention is to protect the sacred site of Wirikuta, and one of the main demands is that it be classified as mining-free. To this end, they are pursuing legal protection measures, and that this protected natural area be elevated to federal status with the participation of the Wixárika people and the relevant agencies.

He concluded that the Wixaritari have never expressed any opinion on whether the land belongs to us or is going to belong to us. We recognize that there are communal lands in that area, and we've been very clear: all we ask is respect and a threat-free area. It would be very important for the federal government to promote economic projects for the residents of the area, the communal lands, because, given the lack of opportunities, they opt for the mine .

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, July 12, 2025, p. 3

1998

The civil association Conservación Humana, which has supported the Wirárika people, brought the issue to a meeting of experts on World Heritage at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

That year, the ceremonial corridor was inscribed on the global network of sacred natural sites of the multilateral organization's Division of Ecological Sciences.

2003

Human Conservation is approaching the World Heritage Directorate of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) to propose a future UNESCO nomination.

2004

The Huichol Route through the Sacred Sites to Huiricuta is inscribed on Mexico's UNESCO indicative list.

2009

Decree establishing the Ruta Huichol State Park in Zacatecas, with more than 60 hectares of sacred landscapes and 125 kilometers of ritual trails.

2011

Foundation of the Wixárika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta and its Sacred Sites. It unites the communities that live and travel the route annually in the fight against mining companies.

At the Dialogue for Peace conference during Felipe Calderón's term, two representatives of the Wixárika Regional Council requested support from the INAH to inscribe their sacred sites on the UNESCO list.

2012

Formal meeting of the Wixárika Regional Council with members of the UNESCO World Heritage Center and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Culture, and INAH regarding the nomination, which emanates from the Wixaritari communities.

Two weeks later, a department of the National Council for Culture and the Arts submitted the application for the Intangible Heritage Convention on the urgent safeguarding list. Wixárika communities, who were not consulted, sent a letter to UNESCO to halt this candidacy, believing their traditions were not at risk and that the important thing was the preservation of their sacred sites (La Jornada, June 11-12, 2012).

2015

The first technical file is finalized and sent to the UNESCO delegation for delivery to the World Heritage Center. At the request of the Ministry of Economy, at a time when there was clear support for the mining companies, the document is not submitted.

2021

The Wixaritari communities are once again pushing for the World Heritage List. They sent a letter to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador requesting that the issue be reopened.

2022

The Justice Plan for the Wixárika, Na'ayeri, O'dam, and Mexikan peoples is launched.

2023

López Obrador signed a decree prohibiting mining companies from continuing exploitation at five sacred sites: Wixárika, Na'ayeri, O'dam or Au'dam, and Mexikan.

That year, the Comprehensive Management, Conservation and Safeguarding Plan (2024-2030) was completed.

2024

The new version of the nomination for the World Heritage List has been submitted.

With information from INAH and Francisco Vidargas, head of the institute's World Heritage Directorate

▲ After a struggle lasting nearly 30 years, the decision on the inscription of the Wixárika Route on the UNESCO World Heritage List will be finalized this weekend in Paris. Activists say the declaration is encouraging news for this indigenous people and their allies, who are fighting mining concessions. The INAH (National Institute of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon), which is promoting the initiative at the request of the civil association Conservación Humana (Human Conservation), announced that the trail's outstanding universal value is based on the connection between sacred sites and essential elements of that tradition, such as fire, rain, corn, peyote, the golden eagle, the wolf, and the deer, through sophisticated ritual activities that encompass farming, hunting, gathering, and fishing. In the images above and below, Wixárika people from Real de Catorce, in San Luis Potosí; below, pilgrims in Mezquitic, Jalisco; and in the middle, Santos de la Torre in front of one of his beaded murals. Photo José Carlo González and INAH

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, July 12, 2025, p. 4