Mining, peyote seekers threaten Wixárika’s centuries-old culture of peyote

Mining, peyote seekers threaten Wixárika’s centuries-old culture of peyote

By Sheryl Losser

The Wixárika are Mexico's oldest indigenous culture that maintain traditions dating to before the conquest. (Photo: Government of Mexico)

The Wixárika — Huichol in Spanish — are the oldest surviving indigenous culture in Mexico who continue to practice their religious beliefs and traditions as their ancestors did centuries ago.  

They live in the Sierra Madre Occidental in the central west of Mexico, mainly in the state of Nayarit, where they are a majority ethnic group.

The rugged mountainous terrain provides a natural barrier to acculturation, but mining, peyote harvesters, and peyote tourism now endanger their unique culture.