Article Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2020/12/25/a-fight-for-survival-among-chiles-indigenous-people
This year, the ongoing struggle between Chile’s indigenous Mapuche nation and the Chilean government has reached a peak as the two groups fight over land, recognition, and rights. As violence increases, the path to de-escalation becomes unclear.
The tension between the Chilean government and the Mapuche is often considered an “eternal conflict,” as it has been ongoing over the past 160 years and has no clear opportunities for resolution. Though the Mapuches were able to live in relative harmony with the Spanish, conflict began with the Chilean revolution, as the Chilean government has increasingly exploiting their resources and taking their land.
As the guest on the podcast explains, “brewing conflict is now exploding,” as there are now about 30 violent attacks per month between the two groups. Many of the attacks are acts of arson, with foresting companies and Chileans as the main victims: the foresting companies because they own a lot of Mapuche land and abuse resources, and Chileans because the Chilean government keeps taking away Mapuche land that it had promised them by deceptive means and sheer force. The acts of violence are increasing rapidly, as the young people who grew up being discriminated against by the Chilean government are now taking matters into their own hands.
The Mapuche nation- Mapuche meaning “people of the land”- places great importance on their land and treating the Earth well, which is why the Chileans taking their land is such a huge deal to them. They also do not identify as Chileans, but instead as members of their own nation. Furthermore, they are definitely not a small minority, as they make up about 13% of the Chilean population, a percentage comparable to the number of African Americans living in the United States.
The discrimination against the Mapuche people has gotten to the point where its effects are deeply rooted in Chilean culture. Stereotypes such as the ideas that the Mapuche are lazy, drunks, and thieves are pervasive throughout society, and Mapuche language and culture is actively suppressed and looked down upon.
After 160 years of dealing with militarized police, violence towards their people, and the theft of their land, the Mapuche people are striking back against the Chilean government in a way that will surely have a tremendous impact on history.
The issue is not simple and doesn’t have a clear resolution, as there are horrific acts being committed on both sides and it would be impossible at this point to just give the Mapuches their land back, as some Chilean families have been living on it for over a hundred years. Nevertheless, the Chilean government is taking action by teaching Mapuche language and culture in schools and fostering the idea of peaceful coexistence. Mapuche people (especially the young) are owning up to their identity, but there remains the question of whether or not they should accept the state’s apology after so many decades of horrendous abuse.
The way that this struggle plays out could be monumental as it would shine a light on how other states can make peace with their indigenous populations. The struggles of the Mapuche people and the stereotypes and violence against them is the experience of thousands of other native groups all around the world, including the United States.
This current event relates to what we have been learning about in class in terms of terminology. The Mapuche people are a nation (shared culture, language, etc.) within a state (Chile), and the struggles that are occurring on both sides are apparent in multi-national states around the world, such as in Spain, which contains the Basques, Catalonians, etc.