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.

At 57 years old, Marcelina López has a very active life. She sews her own clothes, makes beautiful jewelry, raises chickens, sells eggs, cooks, is a midwife and organizes the women of her community; all while faithfully conserving her traditions, those of the indigenous Wixárika people.

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!)

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. All of the mining projects proposed by the Universo and Maroma companies, which total 40 different concessions, have been suspended in their entirety. This adds to the 38 other concessions owned by mining project La Luz which were suspended in February of 2012.

El presente documento hace pública la opinión de los miembros de la Mesa Técnica Ambiental del Frente en Defensa de Wirikuta Tamatsima Wahaa y de un grupo de cientificos e investigadores asesores con gran trayectoria nacional e internacional, respecto a la posibilidad de que el lugar sagrado de Wirikuta sea declarada una Reserva Biósfera,publicado por el gobierno federal mexicano a través de la Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP),

They came by the hundreds from the Western Sierra Madre, native Wixarika or Huichol people on a spiritual quest, seeking to consult with the spirits of their ancestors and of the land where their world began. They came in their ceremonial dress, colorfully embroidered with their sacred symbols of the deer, the eagle and the peyote. They came with offerings they had fashioned from beads and gourds and candle wax, offerings they had made precious with their love and their prayers, as their forebears had done for centuries.

"Maude’s mission was a different one. She had come to see for herself what was at stake in Wirikuta, this most sacred of Huichol holy sites, currently slated for exploitation by Canadian mining companies. Her goal was to connect with the people being affected by these mining proposals and see what, if anything, the social action groups she leads can do to help. She had come to Mexico to participate in the Permanent People’s Tribunal regarding the devastating effects of mega-hydroelectric projects throughout the region. And she wanted to investigate first-hand some of the impacts of Canadian mining companies in Mexico. “We Canadians feel embarrassed and ashamed of what is being done in our names,” she had said on the winding cobblestone road to this place. She had just paid a visit to the sad vestiges of Cerro de San Pedro, the colonial mountain town whose fate the defenders of Wirikuta hope to avoid.

Wixarika leaders are welcoming a new government proposal to declare a Biosphere Reserve in Wirikuta. However, they warn of inconsistencies and dangerous propaganda that is being instigated by First Majestic Silver, the Canadian mining company that wants to gut the Sacred Territory of the Wixárika (Huichol) people. Once again they demand to be included in the process as the government prepares to issue a final decree.

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. On November 8th, the Consejo Regional Wixarica and the Frente en Defense de Wirikuta anncouned their decision. Wixarika leaders will welcome the government proposal to declare a Biosphere Reserve in Wirikuta, but warn of inconsistencies and dangerous propaganda instigated by the mining company among the local population. Once again they demand to be included in the process as the government prepares to issue a final decree.

For the Huichol Indians, the desert mountains here are sacred, a cosmic portal with major mojo, where shamans collect the peyote that fuels the waking dreams that hold the universe together. For a Canadian mining company, these same hills look like a billion dollars worth of buried silver.