First published: 11/02/22.

Els Slots 1

Huichol Route Through Sacred Sites To Huiricuta

Huichol Route through Sacred Sites to Huiricuta (Nominated)

Huichol Route through Sacred Sites to Huiricuta by Els Slots

The Huichol Route is Mexico’s most likely next nomination. Being a cultural route and cultural landscape belonging to a surviving native tradition, it will tick all the boxes quickly. It’s not an easy site to grasp though. And most of the 5 locations are far off the beaten track in the mountains and deserts of central Mexico and need permission to visit from the community. But there is a relatively easy one near the city of Guadalajara: Xapawleyeta is located on Isla de los Alacranes in Lake Chapala. The lake area itself is a weekend destination for the city people and a popular spot for American retirees due to its sunny and warm micro-climate. (Side note: I wandered into a nice looking place for lunch in the town of Ajijic, noticed that there were many elderly Americans already seated when the restaurant manager said to me: “You’re not here for the bingo, are you?” I was out really quick!)

Direct buses to Chapala leave every half hour from Guadalajara’s old bus station. At the pier of Chapala, there’s a kiosk where you normally should be able to buy a boat transfer, but it was closed when I arrived at 9 am and stayed that way all morning. At 10, a boatsman started privately selling tours in front of the kiosk, he had a list with destinations and prices. The cost for Isla de los Alacranes (Scorpion’s Island) is 520 pesos (23 EUR) for a return, including a visit to the island of half an hour. You charter a whole boat, not a seat.

Lake Chapala is the biggest lake in Mexico, but it is not that large. Within 10 minutes, we arrived at the Isla de los Alacranes. I had read terrible things about it beforehand: that it is overrun by tourists, has a lot of trash and too many restaurants. But due to being early, I was the only one around. To me, the presence of a variety of birds and flowery trees was a pleasant surprise. The island is tiny, it takes less than 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other.

It wasn’t hard finding the sacred place of the Wixárika (Huichol) Indians: it lies right in front of the boat landing and has a bilingual information panel. What you’ll see is a rocky outcrop, with the remains of a stone hut on it. Inside the hut, offerings (candles, coconuts, ribbons) have been left. There’s also a sacred tree. What it means to them is a representation of one of the three mythological circles from which humanity emerged. According to the legend, Watakame (“the first cultivator”) was saved from a great flood here, he cut down a zalate tree to build a canoe and rescued himself together with a female black dog, who later transformed into the first woman and the mother of humanity. As a sacred place, it is where the Wixárika come on their yearly pilgrimages to bring offerings to their ancestors and the divinities.

The 5 locations are a coherent whole, consisting of 5 sacred places covering the 4 cardinal points and the center. So despite it being a small place, I am pretty sure Xapawleyeta on the Isla de los Alacranes will be included in a future nomination. I am very curious about what the other locations look like.

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