Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians

The urgent message of the Wixarika people to defend Wirikuta, the sacred territory where the peyote grows.

An urgent story about the Wixarika People, one of the last living Pre-Hispanic cultures in Latin America, and their struggle with the Mexican government and transnational mining companies to preserve Wirikuta, their most sacred territory and the land where the peyote grows, the traditional medicine that keeps the knowledge of this iconic culture of Mexico alive.

We enter the Wixárika world accompanying the Ramírez family, a traditional clan of the Sierra Madre, as they perform the ancient pilgrimage to Wirikuta, a ceremony held every year to honor their spiritual tradition. But this time something is different. The “Heart of the World”, where everything is sacred, is in danger.

In 2009 the Mexican government granted concessions to several Canadian mining companies to explore and exploit the area, a natural reserve of 140,000 hectares of desert and hills in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, rich in gold, silver and other valuable minerals, and which according to the Huichol world view, maintains the energy balance of the region and the whole planet.