Country: Mexico
Group: Huichol
Date Finalized: 3/20/2020
Team: Giselle Chavez Lopez (lead), Johanna McCombs, Leilani Alva
Content Warning:
Approximate Time Period: 2000-present
The Huichol, also known as the Wixárika, are indigenous people in Mexico. The Huichol are recognized as an indigenous group that has avoided cultural assimilation and retained their culture and community (Stephens, 2011; Schaefer, 2015). Today, the Huichol face a new threat from mining companies and businesses that are taking over the Huichol’s land by illegally obtaining rights to the land and water. These companies do not have formal title to the sacred land of the Huichol (“The Huichol Center for Cultural Survival”), yet the Mexican government has failed to intervene in these tense and violent conflicts and neglected the issues the Huichol face (Barnett, 2017). In addition, Huichol land rights activists Miguel and Agostín Vázquez Torres were assassinated in May 2017 in Jalisco, where Huichol primarily reside (Minority Rights Group). Evidence for occurrences of lethal violence relies on Minority Rights Group, a well-established international organization that voices the concerns of disadvantaged minorities worldwide, as well as publications from the Center for World Indigenous Studies. The data quality is 3 for ample evidence from credible sources.
Sources
- Barnett, T. (2017). Huichol leader assassinations “a wound to the heart of the community”. Retrieved from https://intercontinentalcry.org/huichol-leader-assassinations-wound-heart-community/
- Minority Rights Group. (n.d.). Mexico. Retrieved from https://minorityrights.org/country/mexico/
- Schaefer, S. B. (2015). Huichol Women, Weavers, and Shamans. University of New Mexico Press
- Stephens, M. M. (2011). Under the eyes of god: The huichols and the mexican state, 1810–1910. Dissertation. University of Oklahoma.
- The Huichol Center for Cultural Survival: PVAngels. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2020, from https://pvangels.com/charities/179/the-huichol-center-for-cultural-survival