Wixarika Research Center

“Expenses office expense 98 internet 614 web hosting 324 travel 127 bank charges 79 po box rental fee 198 solar oven project 3,956 telephone 1,412 state registry 45 non-investment depreciation 54 total 6,907”

“Other depreciable asset 46,691 46,691 less accumulated depreciation 46,572 46,626 yarn paintings by jose benitez sanch 23,750 23,750 total 23,869 23,815”

“Advocacy for the huichol indians in mexico, and preservation and promotion of the huichol culture and artwork.”

“The wixrika research center maintains an online world-class archive of wixrika (huichol) indigenous art and culture to educate the public about this unique and extraordinary culture. Through the foundation's web site, we raise public awareness about the challenges these indigenous people are facing today due to their rapidly changing environment. It is our hope that the website will amplify their voices and add weight to their opinions and concerns. Our website, which is published in english and spanish, gives the public free access to images of an extraordinary collection of their traditional, sacred, and contemporary art and publishes news on relevant current events. We also maintain a facebook group called "huichol cultural survival" which is now followed by more than 4,200 people, including a large number of people from the wixrika communities. We post news articles almost daily, videos, and short films of interest. Our posts are often commented on and shared which in turn brings new people to our group. The work of the wixrika research center (wrc) consists of preserving, in digital format, photographs, documents, tape recordings and images of sacred, traditional, and contemporary art, collected and/or photographed by juan and yvonne negrin from 1970 to present. The paper archives being digitalized include copies of documents and news reports pertaining to past and present land disputes, the exploitation of the wixrika people's natural resources, and community documents and petitions drawn up at their general assemblies. Hundreds of color transparencies taken by juan & yvonne negrin have been scanned in high resolution for preservation. These photographs are unique because the wixrika communities rarely permitted cameras to be used to capture their way of life, their ceremonies, or their sacred spots by outsiders. An exception was made in the case of the negrns because of their dedicated work in defending the land and resources of the wixrika people and the non-profit nature of the work they carried out over several decades. This is an ongoing project expected to take substantial time to complete. The tape recordings consist of sacred chants, oral history as recounted by members of the council of elders, traditional music, community assemblies and interviews. The original recordings were made on magnetic cassettes and their conversion to digital format is necessary in order to preserve this important body of work. During the 2015-2016 fiscal year our engineer, gerardo ruz, made three trips to the sierras to complete the solar wood drying kiln. In june of 2015, gerardo installed thermal insulation on the inside walls to insure that the kiln would not lose heat. During this same trip, both the inside and outside walls were plastered to protect the adobe walls from humidity. In january of 2016, gerardo traveled to the sierras and installed batteries for the solar photovoltaic system. He also oversaw the milling of 1,200 board feet of native pine to be used in the training by the professors from the university of guadalajara's institute of wood, cellulose, and paper. The boards were milled using a chainsaw by a local lumber worker. During the second week, gerarado was joined by professor ral rodrguez anda (who designed the solar oven) and his assistant professor hilda palacios jurez. Together they taught the course on drying lumber in the solar kiln to a group of 12 wixrika high school students. The training incorporated video, lectures, hands on training in the proper loading of the lumber in the kiln, and the operation of the kiln. At the end of the course, gerardo and the professors left the sierras with the first load of wood drying in the kiln. During the training photographs and several videos were taken to document the course. In late march, yvonne negrn made a trip to mexico and traveled to the sierras with gerardo to meet with the community to observe the finished project and discuss the next phase of the eco-forestr”