Normar lo sagrado: entre el derecho estatal y las ecologías relacionales en Oaxaca

This article examines the tensions that emerge when the category of sacred site is incorporated into legal frameworks and public policies concerning Indigenous peoples in Mexico. Drawing on ethnographic research in Oaxaca and on involvement with the Justice Plans, it analyzes two experiences: that of the Coordinadora de Pueblos Unidos por el Cuidado y Defensa del Agua (COPUDA), where the defense of the Xnizaa aquifer brought together ritual practices, communal organization, and relations with ancestral entities, and that of the De Get’s Didsé Plan in the Sierra Sur, where this category acquires different meanings and implications within institutional and community settings. The article argues that legal recognition expands possibilities for territorial protection while also reshaping the relationships and commitments that sustain these places.