Behind the Scenes: What Wirikuta Fest fans bought with their tickets
Wixarika leader Santos de la Cruz consults with Ruben Albarran of Café Tacuba in a May 2012 press conference right before Wirikuta Fest. Photo ©Tracy Barnett
It was a long time coming – but it was worth the wait.
Nearly two years ago, more than a dozen of Mexico’s biggest performing artists came together in a mega-event aimed at saving Wirikuta, one of the country’s most sacred sites, from devastation at the hands of Canadian gold and silver mining operations.
It was a triumphant moment for the indigenous Wixarika people and for indigenous movements in general when, as the daylong festival came to a close, they were invited to come up on stage. A massive screen flashed images of traditional Wixarika beadwork behind them as 60,000 fans chanted, in unison, “Wirikuta no se vende! Wirikuta se defende!” (Wirikuta is not for sale! Wirikuta will be defended!)
Leaders of the indigenous Wixarika people and the Wirikuta Defense Front, the civil society coalition that is supporting them, came forward in a Mexico City press conference recently to give an accounting of how the money was spent – an example of innovation in the face of daunting challenges.
A dozen activists assembled on the dais at the Agustin Pro Human Rights Center in Mexico City, half of them in the white cotton ceremonial dress of the Wixarika people, colorfully embroidered with their sacred plants and animals. One of the activists, inconspicuous in jeans and a T-shirt, was the rock superstar Ruben Albarran of Café Tacuba, arguably one of Mexico’s most beloved performing artists.
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