UPDATE: Zoom Into the Huichol Center was a huge success with thousands joining from across the globe as Founder Susana Valadez and her team reported live from the Center’s remote headquarters in Mexico’s Western Sierra Madre. Susana shared with us the ways in which Covid-19 is transforming the continued operation of the Huichol Center, an internationally recognized nonprofit organization serving the indigenous Wixárika (Huichol) people of Western Mexico. She discussed how the pandemic is currently affecting some of the indigenous Wixárika communities, which have fiercely resisted colonization for centuries to maintain the integrity of their profound Earth-based cosmology. Hear about it in their own words and take a virtual tour through the Huichol Center’s operations in our live feed event, recorded here:

Hear from staff members about the resourceful strategies such as the permaculture project that promotes food sovereignty and other innovative programs that the Huichol Center has implemented over the years that have become particularly relevant during this current crisis.

Speakers included:

• Lakota Spiritual Activist Cheryl Angel, who traveled to the Huichol Center’s remote headquarters in February and has maintained and “Eagle-Condor” conversation with Susana ever since, seeking avenues for collaboration and mutual support.
• Cilau Valadez, renowned Wixárika yarn artist and activist and the son of Susana and Mariano Valadez, another internationally recognized yarn artist.
• Ernesto Montellano, manager of the Huichol Center’s permaculture project.
• Miguel Carrillo, Huichol Center board member and traditional authority of the Wixárika community of Santa Catarina Cuexcomatitlan

See what the Huichol Center community is doing to ease the economic burden that confronts them and to thwart the imminent dangers to their well being in anticipation of what may soon cause devastating effects to their traditional way of life.

As an introduction to this highly spiritual indigenous culture, Susana and her crew will share some of their most poignant photographs from the Huichol Center Ethnographic Archive and then present a tour of the Huichol Center with commentary from participants. Learn about how the Huichol Center is stepping up to the plate to help ensure the survival of this vulnerable ancient tribe in the modern world. Towards the end of the presentation, Susana will share the new Patreon site answer questions from the viewers.

Alternatively, you can watch the Live Streaming event and follow other Huichol Center news on the Facebook Page of the Huichol Center for Cultural Survival and Traditional Arts.

Please see From Beads to Seeds at the Huichol Center: 40-year-old institution confronts pandemic, economic downturn with permaculture and ingenuity as well as the “Discussion” section of this event on Facebook for more information about the who, what, where, when, and why…. Thank you for reading us, and we hope to see you on Saturday!

Cheryl Angel Cilau Valadez Huichol Huichol Center Susana Valadez Wixarika