Three decades of struggle for the sacred path

▲ 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