Sovereignty and Indigenous Mapuche Self-determination

By Nina Dean* - 1st Nov 2010

The 150th anniversary commemoration of the indigenous Mapuche Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia will be proudly celebrated on 17th November 2010, a historic landmark celebration which paradoxially takes place during the bicentenary of the modern republics of Chile and Argentina. The auspicious occasion will be solemnly observed by the current sovereign HRH Prince Philippe at the La Cheze, France, the birthplace of the founding monarch King Orelie Antoine I.

Following the adoption of the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia in 1860 by the ultimate Mapuche authorities of the time, Lonko Kilapan, Kalfucura and King Orelie Antoine de Tounens as a means of peaceful and non- violent internal defence by which to preserve Mapuche self- determination against the impending colonial assault of the fledgling Chilean and Argentinean states, the Kingdom came under their direct and concerted attack.

The newly formed republics feared that the coordination of the newly founded sovereign state with the ancient warrior nation of Mapuche would threaten their plans to annex Mapuche territory as a means of colonial expansion and domination. The republic’s fears were well founded for the Mapuche nation had by this time, successfully defended its territory, Wallmapu for over 300 years against both the Spanish Crown and their successors the post Hispanic republics of Chile and Argentina. However with the advancement of modern armoury in the form of the Flemington rifle and armed with the widespread distribution of republican propaganda they proceeded to undermine the Kingdom and its monarch using both brute force and misinformation as the chosen tools of subjugation.

King Orelie Antoine was mercilessly pursued by covert government mercenaries whom, two years after the adoption of the Kingdom, finally obtained his capture in 1862, he was subsequently detained and set on trial in a Chilean kangaroo court where he was branded a lunatic and disposed of into a Chilean mental asylum. However the courageous and visionary Frenchman’s loyalty to his subject’s and his deep seated conviction to serve and protect them, like any great national leader was unshakeable. Despite later being exiled to France he returned on three occasions to his beloved Mapuche Wallmapu to continue the national resistance against the alien invasion, only to be finally forcibly returned to France, living in exile from his people and their sacred ancient territory where he later died on September 17, 1878. However he occupied the throne for 18 years on both Mapuche soil and in exile in France. Prior to his passing, King Orelie Antoine amended the royal constitution in order to legitimise the transition of royal title by means of hereditary or non-hereditary transition, to an appropriate and capable heir to the throne in order to ensure the continuity of the Kingdom. As King Orelie Antoine died without issue his royal successor, chosen prior to his death was to be King Achilles I who reigned for 24 years after the founding monarch’s death.

In 1902 King Achiles I was succeeded to the throne by Antoine II, followed by Laura Therese in 1903, Antoine III in 1916 and in 1951 Prince Philippe who currently occupies the throne as the longest reigning monarch to date. In the year of the 150th anniversary of the Kingdom Prince Philippe will celebrate his 59th year as ruling Monarch.

Between 1862 and 1885 the ruthless and ambitious republics of Chile and Argentina activated the violent and genocidal annexation of Mapuche Wallmapu in the form of the infamous Pacification of Araucania Chile and the Campaign of the Desert in Argentina. In breach of over 30 legitimate international treaties signed between the Mapuche Nation the Spanish Crown and Chile and Argentina, the aforementioned republics have maintained their illegal military occupation of Mapuche ancestral territory. The Kingdom of Araucania has since survived in exile in King Antoine’s country of birth, maintaining its special relationship to the Mapuche people.

It is not without accident that we see many parallels with the strategic Machiavellian destabilisation of the Mapuche territorial resistance of today and that of the resistance against republican aggression during the rule of Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia, for the same now post colonial entities and their unscrupulous agendas are at play today as they were during the time of the original pacification era and their motivations remain unchanged. Where in 1860’s we view the scramble of the colonial republics for valuable Mapuche territorial resources with which to aid the expansion and economic prosperity of the state, we find that today the modern republics of Chile and Argentina remain in pursuit of the self same illegally appropriated ‘rewards’ under the newly initiated project of the right wing Chilean administration known as Plan Araucania, proclaimed by President Piñera as the 2nd Pacification of Araucania. In consistent contravention of international legislation such as ILO convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the states covert policy for indigenous assimilation to aid their control of natural resources remains aggressive, unprincipled and prolific. The murder, discredit and persecution of Mapuche national leaders and activists continue as they did through the 1860’s invasion. The controlled manipulation of mainstream republican media owned by the political elite assists this process of repressive assimilation as it did during the original annexation of Mapuche territory.

The union of the Mapuche nation by decree of its highest national authorities of the time, Lonko Kalfucura and Kilapan and King Orelie Antoine which gave rise to the creation of the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia signified a unique collaboration between a traditional indigenous social, political and economic entity and a European model of sovereign governance whilst retaining the traditional structure and leadership authority of the indigenous nation. This unique yet unlikely alliance produced the modern day Kingdom as it exists today. In accordance with the original constitution the Kingdom is made up of Sovereign head of state and his royal council comprising Mapuche and non-Mapuche advisors.

As the occasion of 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia collides with the bicentenary of the republics of Chile and Argentina, the necessity for Mapuche cohesion and solidarity in the face of republican divide and rule tactics, such as those enshrined in recently amended Anti -Terrorist law become all the more crucial in order to once more survive the ravages of post colonial assault which intend to assimilate and annihilate the ancient and beloved Mapuche nation and its future generations to come. The Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia remains true to its founding principles in the spirit of King Orelie Antoine and the original Mapuche founders during this pivotal period of external hostility towards the Mapuche Nation today as it has through a century and a half of concerted repression.


*Vice Secretary
Mapuche International Link

 

 

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