After UNESCO, what's next for the Wixarika route to Wirikuta?

"Dawn takes its time in the Chihuahuan desert. By the time the first light brushes the hills above Wirikuta, Wixárika pilgrims are already moving, with gourd bowls and candles in hand, and stories carried in footsteps along a 500-kilometer thread of sacred sites that ties mountains to springs, desert to sea, and families to their ancestors. Last month, UNESCO wove that thread into World Heritage. 

The next chapter is less poetic: governance, access agreements and enforcement where fences, factory farms and mining concessions have eroded the landscape, strained aquifers and frayed a living tradition.

The trail to the semi-desert reserve known as Wirikuta — to the Wixárika, the Birthplace of the Sun — stretches across five states, marked by sacred springs and hills and shrines. The designation is the first such honor in Latin America for a living Indigenous tradition. What that recognition means on the ground and how an ancient ceremony meets modern Mexico’s laws, land uses and pressures, has been the focus of much discussion since the decision was announced.”

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