The Mapuche, One Nation, One Flag, One Territory, One Truth
By Nina Dean * - 10th January 2010
The Mapuche people whose official ancestral territory agreed between the Spanish Crown and the Mapuche Nation in 1641 in the signing of the treaty of killen and over thirty further valid international treaties, today spans from the Bio Bio river in the north of both Chile and Argentina and to the southern tip of the South American continent . Following the arrival of Spanish colonists upon the shores of Wallmapu (Mapuche ancestral territory) in 1541, the Mapuche fought a long and valiant war in order to protect and retain the soil and spirit of Mapuche lands. The hundred year war was concluded in the surrender of the Spanish Crown who was finally forced to sign the treaty of Killen and in doing so acknowledged the existence of Mapuche ancestral lands and their national territorial borders.
Like nations the world over, the Mapuche land was made up of many regions, in Wales for example the pre colonial Welsh were divided regionally into 5 clans the Deceangli, Silures, Ordovices, Demetae and the Gangani. In England there were 14 pre roman regional tribes including the Iceni, Parisii and Brigantes to name but three. The Mapuche territory (Wallmapu) meaning 'all lands' was similarly divided into four primary regions known as: Puelmapu (land of the east), Pikunmapu (land of the north), Lafquenmapu (land of the Pacific coastal region in the west) and Huillimapu (land of the south); within this regional system Mapuche communities or (Lof) are further identified by names deriving from the unique eco system and/or natural elements within which they lived, for example Pewenche (people of the monkey puzzle tree) region, Waidefche (people from the cordillera), Ranquilche (people from the apple tree region), etc.
Each locality untied under a unified Mapuche National identity, sharing a singular common language, culture, spirituality and political system. Each region held its own flag, similar to the way in which each English locality held its distinct coat of arms. However in recent years the Mapuche like many evolving nations of the world came to adopt a singular Mapuche flag whilst retaining the unique symbolism of the flags of individual communities. Mapuche Lonkos representing each community regularly travelled to gather for meetings of national importance, in particular in times of war when a single Mapuche Lonko (Chief) would be elected as Toki to preside over all wartime affairs in consultation with a coalition of regional Lonkos (chiefs).
Many elderly Mapuche of today remember well making regular visits, travelling on horseback across the Argentine border from Chile to visit family members in the Argentine, Wallmapu. The age old tradition of such pilgrimages continues to the present day where modern Mapuche visit family members across the illegal and self imposed Argentinean border, which continues to overlook formerly signed international treaties. These journeys bear testimony to the historic family links of Mapuche communities straddling both sides of the Argentine / Chilean border.
An example of a Mapuche regional flag is that of the Mapuche Tehuelche, In Flag Report was published in 1999 an statement of the Organización de comunidades mapuche-tehuelche (Coordinadora Mapuche-Tehuelche), that give the meaning of the flag: the blue is for the upper "land" with the forces of the air, wind, sun…; white mean snow, that is beneficial for the agriculture (after a winter white snow, a summer with green pastures); the yellow is for tehuelche land. The arrow is because this people remain in war until that obtain justice. This arrow will be expelled from the flag when all rights are recognized to the Tehuelche.
Jaume Ollé, 22 Jul 2004
As Jaume Ollé, rightly states, the unified Mapuche struggle for the reclamation of ancestral land rights, human rights and self determination persists to the present day under the proud banner of the Mapuche Nation Flag. Mapuche and their ancestral leaders (Lonkos) continue to be repressed, tortured and imprisoned under post Pinochet dictatorship legislation, 'the anti terrorist law' in Chile. Furthermore despite centuries of violent repression and media misrepresentation the Mapuche resolve never to abandon their lands, culture, history and identity to post colonial sentimentalists nor to the governments who covet their lands and the natural resources that lie within their borders.
The Mapuche remain under siege from national internal entities, the Chilean government its judicial system, military police, illicit guerrilla groups, latifundistas, national and multinational corporations and so called 'ethnographic historians' who persist in misrepresenting Mapuche history and identity in a bid to erase its rich and powerful memory. Those who deny the existence of a nation quite simply seek to erase a people in an act of academic genocide. However the Mapuche continue to be supported by external entities and individuals such as global human rights agencies, numerous national and international non-governmental organisations and The United Nations.
This year at the UN Human Rights Council, Danielle Mitterrand, wife of former French president Francois Mitterrand vehemently condemned the violence and repression against Mapuche democratic protest in defence of their ancestral lands. Like all historic struggles against internal repression and brutality, the compassionate and democratic world beyond the confines of the borders of post colonial Argentina and Chile refuse to be silenced but remain faithful allies speaking out against injustice alongside the Mapuche Nation.
* Vice Secretary, Mapuche International Link