Del turismo al neochamanismo: ejemplo de la reserva natural sagrada de Wirikuta en México

Abstract

Over the last decade, a new niche of tourism activity has been developing on the fringes of the world tourism market: mystical-spiritual tourism. Classed as ethnic tourism and the search for spiritual experience, more and more international travellers, fascinated with the native peoples, are submerging themselves in the “so called” cultural traditions by way of initiations or shamanic rituals. In Latin America, the most emblematic locations of the pre-
Hispanic cultures have become the object of numerous tourism businesses. Whether organized by professional travel agencies, or considered as “native” by the authorities, these activities invest
in new spaces bereft of any form of appropriate infrastructure. Based on a study carried out at the sacred Wirikuta natural reserve in Mexico, a place of pilgrimage for the Wixaritari indians, the
idea is to provide a better understanding of the realities and risks related to this type of tourismactivity. If this type of tourism tends to overestimate the figure of the Amerindian, elevating them to the rank of authentic indian, and thus seen as the redeemer of the white man, this study also —paradoxically— demonstates that this phenomenon of rediscovery and reappropriationof native shamanism represents ?for the tourist? the possibility of transcultural communication through which his/her “identity” undergoes some form of transformation.