Mapuche: Chile's largest Indigenous Community

Chile has a rich indigenous community comprised of nine communities (tribes). They do not refer to them as tribes but rather communities.  The largest of the nine is the Mapuche people. They along with the eight other communities are the original inhabitants of this area of South America and have survived the conquistadors, colonization and westernization.

The Mapuche as with similar indigenous groups have suffered conflict with the government over land rights and the ability to self govern. Mapuche do not consider themselves Chilean (as reported by them). During our time here there has been a small number of Mapuche that were imprisoned for crimes and being tried as terrorist. The imprisoned Mapuche are on a hunger strike as they do not want to be judge under this law. The new government administration has called for Mesas de dialogo (dialogue tables/round tables)

Over the last several days we have met with the Mapuche people in the Cities of Temuco, Chochol, Pucon and a far rural section of Temuco. This included a very formal government meetings and visits and an unexpected rare excursion to a rural Mapuche community. The Government has a Presidential Office that manages all Indigenous affairs it is called CONADI. The Director of CONADI and other staff members are Mapuche. During our visit with CONADI we met a wonderful staff member who agreed to take us to a community who is fighting to regain rights to their land that was taken from them.

The visit to the rural community was extraordinary. We met with about 20 community members (men and women equally represented) who were attending a community meeting to discuss their next steps in reclaiming their land.  They were incredibly gracious host. Almost all of them had never met anyone outside of Chile and had never met an American. They were very surprised that we made it all the way there to see them. The are remote off of a long strech of direct roads in the mountains. They gave us a tour of their land and showed where private farm owners divided the land. Those who took the land away put a line right through their cemetery. When they harvested the land they had taken from the Mapuche and they reached the cemetery they threw bodies over the fence. The fight for the land is fraught with bureaucracy and the power of the private businesses. Agriculture is the leading business in Chile and they export to all over the world.

This particular community meeting was being run by a woman in the community who is leading the charge.  Woman play a critical role in this community and only a woman can be the Mache: spiritual leader of the community. We also broke bread with both communities we met with. The traditional food for these meetings include sopapillas (fried bread very yummy), hard boiled eggs, mate (herbal bitter tea) that they drop fresh eucalyptuses leaves into, and on special occasions pieces of meat (not always beef: goat, horse, and sheep). I ate one piece of the meat and hoped for the best.

Other interesting dynamics to mention: over the last two weeks in meetings with government officials when we asked about Mapuche people in their systems they reported very low numbers. When we met with the Mapuche people they report very different estimates. The head of the federal police force said their were none and the Director of CONADI stated that the police had 32%. The Director of CONADI agreed there is much education needed in all parts of Chile including the government. The majority of Mapuche people now live in Santiago to try to gain employment as their rural homelands offer very little economic opportunity. A large number of the elders still speak the language and pass it down to their children. I was humbled by their grace and the connection to the world around them.

Finally one of the theories as to why the nine indigenous tribes survived in Chile is that they were communities and not empires. Unlike the Incas, Mayas, Aztecs there was not one leader but rather multiple leaders and the communities were greatly dispersed. Makes you think. It was an honor to meet and share with the Mapuche people.