International Friendship Club
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico
Background on the Huichols
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
HUICHOL SCHOLARSHIP FUND (HSF)
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