UNESCO Recognizes Wixárika Route to Wirikuta Sacred Sites as World Heritage

Mexico celebrated a historic achievement on Saturday, July 12, 2025, as UNESCO inscribed the Wixárika Route through the Sacred Sites to Wirikuta on its World Heritage List.

This route, spanning approximately 500 kilometers across the states of Nayarit, Durango, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, is not a linear path but rather a "braid of trails" forming part of a unique biocultural corridor.

During the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris, UNESCO granted the designation under the "Serial Property" category, highlighting two key cultural criteria:

• Criterion (iii): The route serves as an exceptional testimony to the living cultural traditions of the Wixárika people.

• Criterion (vi): It reflects the profound interrelation between culture and nature.

Claudia Curiel de Icaza, Mexico’s Secretary of Culture, emphasized the significance of this recognition "during a time of democratic transformation," noting it as Latin America’s first UNESCO-listed cultural manifestation tied to an active Indigenous tradition.

Diego Prieto Hernández, Director of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), explained that the route represents an ancestral pilgrimage where the Wixaritari perform rituals to honor the land, ensure bountiful harvests, and sustain the agricultural cycle of maize.

The inscription also addresses longstanding concerns raised by the Wixárika Regional Council, which has warned for decades about threats from urban expansion, mining concessions, and the decline of hikuri, a sacred plant central to Wixárika spirituality.

The newly designated heritage includes 20 sacred sites across five states, such as:

• Tatei Jaramara (Nayarit)

• Huaxa Manaka (Durango)

• Huiricuta: Mucyuahue and Maxa Yaritsie (San Luis Potosí)

These sites host rituals dedicated to natural deities, ensuring both the fertility of crops and communal well-being.

The recognition results from collaborative efforts between Wixárika communities, the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), INAH, and civil society. It strengthens legal protections for sacred heritage, building on initiatives like the 2022 Justice Plan and the 2023 Presidential Commission.

With this addition, Mexico now boasts 36 UNESCO World Heritage listings, ranking first in the Americas and seventh globally. The Wixárika Route is now safeguarded as an invaluable legacy for humanity.