By Tracy Barnett for Intercontinental Cry

A contingent of at least 1,000 Indigenous Wixárika (Huichol) people in the Western Sierra Madre are gearing up to take back their lands after a legal decision in a decade-long land dispute with neighboring ranchers who have held the land for more than a century.

 Oct. 6, 2014 –­– The film Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians will be on a North American tour with 30+ screenings in more than 20 cities in the United States and Canada, with the U.S. premiere at Rice University Theater in Houston, Texas, and the Canadian premiere hosted by Cinema Politica in Montreal, Quebec. The documentary presents the emblematic case of the defense of Wirikuta, sacred territory to the Wixárika (Huichol) people against the threat of transnational mining corporations.

In a major victory, the judicial power of San Luis Potosí, Mexico has suspended mining concessions in the territory of Wirikuta, sacred to the Wixarika (Huichol) people.

Por Tracy L. Barnett de The Esperanza Project

En un contexto de aumento de las tensiones en la región y otros acontecimientos preocupantes, los líderes Wixarika han presentado un amparo para detener la perforación ilegal para la exploración de oro y plata en sus sagradas tierras ancestrales de Wirikuta.

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By Tracy L. Barnett of The Esperanza Project

Against a backdrop of heightened tensions in the region and other worrisome developments, Wixarika leaders have filed an injunction to stop the illegal drilling in exploration for gold and silver in their ancestral sacred lands of Wirikuta.

The Wixarika (Huichol) people of Mexico have submitted a third letter in their series of communications with the Mexican presidential branch urging the cancellation of mining concessions within their sacred territory known as Wirikuta. 

The Wirikuta Defense Front released their annual report on the mining concessions in their territory and the threats they represent to their people and have presented the information to James Anaya, the UN  Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples on April 18th.

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.

In what is deemed an extensive media ruse, the government of Mexico announced in July that they would be extending a total of 75,000 hectares to what they’ve called a National Mining Reserve for the benefit of the Wixráica (Huichol) people.

By Tracy Barnett of The Esperanza Project

MEXICO CITY – The old Mexico met the new one Saturday at the massive Foro Sol and together, in a vivid explosion of rhythm and light and living energy, they danced the night away.