Header photograph: Denali DeGraf ©

 

PROJECT: Memories and stories of Mapuche territory elders. Problematising the official history of the Paso de Indios region

Our ancestors told us about how the families of the Pichiñan lofche settled in Paso de Indios around the year 1900, after being driven out by the military campaigns of the late 19^th century. The official history of Chubut silences the stories of the Mapuche and allows words like “progress” and “Welsh settlers” to resonate; settlers with whom we had connections. With the support of the State, fences were extended all over our territory bringing us subjugation, harassment and discrimination. Yet, we keep on resisting and fighting to recover our history, using the knowledge of our ancestors and the memories of our lof, which is what we share in this video presentation.

 

Video: Memorias y relatos de las y los antiguos del territorio mapuche

Agustín Pichiñan

I am Mapuche, the son of Marcelo Pichiñan and María Luisa Guanqui. I am thirty-nine years old and part of the Cerro Cóndor community. When I was born, my father took care of me as my mother gave birth at home, and that is what happened to most of my siblings too. We were fifteen brothers and sisters all in all! I spent my childhood in the village, which is part of the ancient territory of the Pichiñan lofche, where I completed primary school at Escuela N^o 31. I am a farmer and I have three children: two boys and a girl who go to school at Escuela N^o 15, Paso de Indios. As a lofche, we fight to protect our territory and to try to tell our history and the history of our ancestors.

Additional Materials

Lofche Pichiñan. 2023. Territorio Pichiñan, Editorial GEMAS.
The trawn forum, Cerro Cóndor, 2024.

Thank you to:

The Cerro Cóndor Mapuche community.
My uncle Nemesio Pichiñan.
My sister María.
My niece Fernanda Rufino.
Mickaela Constante.
The band Puel Kona.
Denali DeGraf.
GEMAS research network.
Swansea University.
AHRC-UKRI.