Background Huichol Information

 

Terminology

Huichol (Spanish name) vs Wixarika (meaning ‘the people’, the term the Huichol use to refer to themselves)

Population

• Statistics are not very reliable, but about 45,000, half in the traditional territory (central box), half outside
• Communities in traditional territory include:
  • San Andrés Cohamiáta (Tatei-Kie) [2010 population: 1317]
  • San Miguel Huextita     (Tsikuita) [2010 population: 539]
  • San Sebastián       (Waútia) [2010population: 332]
  • Santa Catarina      (Tuapurie)  
  • Tuxpan de Bolaños      (Kuruxi manuka) 
  • Guadalupe Ocotan  (in Nayarit) (Xatsitsarie)
• Communities outside traditional territory: Tepic and Guadalajara, with smaller groups in San Blas, PV, and small communities throughout Jalisco, Nayarit, Durango and San Luis Potosi

Housing conditions (San Andres Cohamiata only)

• 63% have electricity
• 25% have a fridge
• 37% have running water
• 28% have a mobile phone; less than 1% have internet

Education (San Andres Cohamiata only

• 38% of adults are illiterate 
• Average number of years of schooling: 5

Cosmology and sacred sites

• Five sacred sites at the corners and center of Huichol ceremonial territory (See the above map.)
• Key symbols: deer, corn and peyote. Many rituals, including the annual peyote hunt in Wirikuta

Some key historical dates

• 1524: First contact
• 1550-1590: Chichimeca wars
• 1717: Spanish Viceregal land ‘grant’ to the Huichol
• 1917: Separation of Nayarit from Jalisco; second wave of Mestizo land seizures of Huichol land
• 1952-3: Third wave of Mestizo seizures of Huichol land
• 1960s-1970s: Concerted state action to open Huichol territory via construction of roads, landing strips, electricity, schools and clinics
• 1994: NAFTA  and the beginning of the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) rebellion
• 2010: Huichol learn about First Majestic Silver’s plans to mine in Wirikuta; creation of the Wixarika Regional Council and the start of the national and international campaign against the mine
• 2017: Assassination of two land repossession leaders (Miguel & Augustin Vazquez Torres)
• 2018: Huichol communities prevent the Mexican election from taking place on their territory

First Majestic Silver (FMS) and mining

• Canadian share of ownership of mining in Mexico: 78.5% (2010)
• Size of FMS: assets $771 million US; 7 operating mines in Mexico; revenue $245 million US
• FMS claim in Wirikuta: 12,298 acres
• Current status: before the Mexican courts

Land repossessions

• Huichol campaign to repossess stolen land (47 lawsuits in the agrarian court of Nayarit) started in 1993; first favorable decision and repossession: 2016
• Land repossessions by Huichol: 2016, 2017, 2018 and ongoing

Key Indigenous organizations

• WRC: Wixarika Regional Council – unites Huichol communities in the Sierra Madre in dealing with state and corporations
• EZLN: Zapatista Army of National Liberation (‘Zapatistas’)
• NIC: National Indigenous Congress
• ICG: Indigenous Council of Government

What you can do

• Learn more about the Huichol and Mexico, and then talk to others
• Attend other HSF events at the IFC: Thurs Feb. 6th Film at 7PM; Tues Feb.18th presentation at 10AM

How to learn more about the Huichol

• Books:
  • (1) Huichol Territory and the Mexican Nation: Indigenous Ritual, Land Conflict and Sovereignty Claims, Paul M. Liffman (2011)
  • (2) Racial Alterity, Wixarika Youth Activism and the Right to the Mexican City, Diana Negrin;
  • (3) Grand Masters of Wixarika Art: The Negrin Archive, Diana Negrin (for sale at the IFC, Tue. Feb.11 at 10 AM; late Feb., on sale at the Colectika Gallery)
• Website (in Spanish): www.Wixarika.mx

Huichol Scholarship Fund (HSF)

• Second year of operation (2019-20): awards of $6,000 pesos to each of 13 university students 
• Ambition: expand the number and size of scholarships to better support the cultural survival and political autonomy of the Huichol