Earth's Indigenous Maps Reemerge: "Let the Power of the Land Return"

Venture with Mapuche Information Collective Mapuexpress

In 2024, the Mapuche Information Collective Mapuexpress embarked on a mission, "Communication and Resistance against threats posed by mining in Fütawillimapu: The earth's might shall rise again," backed by Consultancy Alerce, based in Osorno, and Cultural Survival.

This endeavor marked a united front to address the ongoing challenges related to forestry, hydroelectric power, aquaculture, wind parks, pesticide contamination, and water scarcity, among other environmental concerns. These problems were tackle into light by the neocolonial, extractive model that indigenous peoples continue to grapple with.

The project's focus rested on the Fütawillimapu, an extensive region of southern Wallmapu, traditional, political, and historical land of the Mapuche people, situated in Ngulumapu, Chile. This project was initiated amidst the various resistance efforts against a system that perpetuates violence, exploitation, and dispossession of communities and their rights.

Heinous acts of repression, militarization, and subsequent political imprisonment were also part of the struggle. An often unspoken element is the significant role traditional media, or hegemonic communications media, plays in the marginalization and stigmatization of Mapuche communities. Their platforms frequently broadcast racism and discrimination.

The anti-mining movement isn't contained within Ngulumapu, Chile, yet, it sprawls across Abya Yala—Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Mexico, and other territories. The message is crystal clear: "No to mining, yes to life." These demands are intertwined with concepts of self-determination, territorial sovereignty, and the defense of indigenous communities, whose voices are often unheard amidst exploitation concessions on their ancestral lands.

The project uncovered more than 100 exploration concessions within the Province of Osorno, Los Lagos region, southern Chile, on the SERNAGEOMIN website. Significantly, many of these concessions aren't purely for mining purposes, but for shielding other extractive projects, such as hydroelectric power, fish farms, and wind parks, according to specialists interviewed.

The initiative was bolstered by lamuen Erica Mansilla from Consultancy Alerce, journalist Constanza Mancilla, who supported the project's initial phase, Geoeduca Association, an organization focusing on education, sustainability, resilience, and gender equity, and visual artists Ernesto "Pititore" Guerrero and Kiyen Clavería Aguas, who contributed illustrations.

The Mapuexpress logo was designed by Javiera Vera, while Nelson Smith handled the design and layout, and Transdono Ediciones took care of the printing. Special thanks to Cristian García Quintul for the translation into Chedungun, Raúl Snow for photography, Mapuche Williche Wechemapu band, and Ponciano Rumian. Musical themes for the podcasts were provided by Likan, Meli Newen, and Daniela Millaleo.

We deeply appreciate the support provided by the interviewees, including Apo Ülmen and Longko, as well as leaders, community representatives, specialists, and organizations, who joined the project at different times and enriched our dialogue with their insights.

We remain grateful to Lonko Carlos Paillamanque, in a critical health condition, who consistently expressed his willingness to engage with such issues and shared his wisdom, contributing to the report with his interview. He is the ancestral leader of the Lofmapu Maicolpi, who spearheaded the lawsuit against the Chilean State in 2013 in San Juan de la Costa, due to the abundance of exploration concessions in Mapuche territory.

On June 22, 2024, the """Trawun/Conversatorio: Communication and Resistance against Mining Threats in the Futawillimapu""" took place in Eleuterio Ramírez's social headquarters in Osorno. The event acknowledged the trouble posed by mining and the infringement of human rights—with testimonies from representatives of the Lofmapu Maicolpi, Marcelo Repol, Jaime Lefián, and werken Martín Paillamanque, as well as an analysis by Carolina Carillanca, a Mapuche Wiliche historian, about the arrival of mining to the region centuries ago.

The conversation was graced by Mauricio Maya, regional chief of the National Institute of Human Rights, and Felipe Guerra, lawyer and member of the Citizen Observatory. Both addressed the challenges and progress in implementing indigenous human rights, particularly in relation to the implementation of ILO Convention 169 and mining concession requests.

The project culminated in the publication of the book titled, "Amol'sunguwn ka newenmawün tain' wentxuwafiel pu minera fu't willi mapu / Communication and Resistances against Mining Threats in the Fu'twillimapu." Copies were distributed free of charge and are also available digitally on the Mapuexpress website: www.mapuexpress.org. The publication includes a report, journalistic notes, and a section titled "Defense Mechanisms for Indigenous Peoples' Rights against Mining Threats," which emerged from various conversations and interviews with Mapuche authorities, community leaders, and specialists in indigenous law and communication in Wallmapu, among others. Illustrations were created in collaboration with artists Ernesto Guerrero Pititore and Kiyen Claveria.

Additionally, the podcast "Podcast: Choyu'pe Tain' Newen Mapu" was published, containing four radio capsules with the voices of Apo Ülmen, Longko, community leaders, and representatives of Mapuche communities.

The project aimed to offer additional tools to confront issues such as mining activities in Fu'twillimapu, which is considered a "silent threat" and poses a risk to human rights and the well-being of Mapuche communities. There is still much work to be done in Wallmapu and Abya Yala for the autonomy and self-determination of the Mapuche Nation and other Indigenous Peoples. Let Mapuche communication guide this journey.

Cover illustration: Ernesto Guerrero Pititore. Illustrations: Ernesto Guerrero Pititore and Kiyen Claveria Aguas.

For additional information, please visit www.mapuexpress.org.

In 2024, the Mapuexpress collective received support from the Indigenous Community Media Fund, which fosters international Indigenous radio stations by strengthening their infrastructure, improving transmission systems, and creating training opportunities for Indigenous community radio journalists in journalism, broadcasting, audio editing, technical skills, and more.

The Mapuexpress project, focusing on Environmental Science and health-and-wellness, uncovered over 100 exploration concessions within the Province of Osorno, which threatened the Mapuche community's well-being and were intertwined with the ongoing challenges of water scarcity, pesticide contamination, and other environmental concerns.
As the project progressed, it shifted towards Politics, delving into issues of indigenous rights, self-determination, and territorial sovereignty, highlighting the role of traditional media in marginalizing and stigmatizing Mapuche communities and the ongoing struggle against a system that perpetuates violence, exploitation, and dispossession.
The project's findings and outcomes were not limited to Fütawillimapu; they echoed in the broader context of General-News, with the anti-mining movement spanning across Abya Yala—Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Mexico, and other territories, calling for self-determination and the defense of indigenous communities whose voices are often unheard amidst exploitation concessions on their ancestral lands.