As editor of The Sopris Sun, I am tasked with exercising impartiality: Keeping an open mind to the many nuances that exist in every story.
There is one story, however, I’m compelled to tell, and I must admit, I am partial. I am partial to a people risking everything to restore a more harmonious coexistence with the planet and her diversity.
I first became fascinated with the Mapuche, an indigenous peoples belonging to the southern cone of South America, at a gathering in Chile in 2016 called Raíces de la Tierra (Roots of the Earth). I remember first feeling intimidated by the Mapuche hosting other native peoples and cultural orphans for a prayer-filled camp-out in the forest. Sitting by their fire, hearing their stories, I began to understand. The Mapuche held a truce with the Spanish empire for hundreds of years. It wasn’t until the 1860s and 1870s, when the budding nations of Chile and Argentina went genocidal with expansionist intent, that these fiercely guarded territories were opened to exploitation.
In 2019, I took a 10-week sabbatical to deepen my familiarity. As a student of anthropology, the goal was to become acquainted with a Mapuche community. This took me to Lof Pillañ Mahuiza, where I met Moira Millán, a fearless activist for her people, all women and Life itself. I returned to Pillañ Mahuiza, recovered territory in defense of a wild river, the Carrenluefu, for a “climate camp” in February of 2020, bringing together people from all over the world to discuss climate change as a continuation of colonialism — stolen land treated as such by extractive, disconnected, short-sighted capitalists.
The Mapuche thrive in their forests, adapting themselves to live with the Earth, rather than the other way around. In service to the land, they practice an embodied spirituality that requires frequent prayer and ceremony to enrich a place and create a community encompassing more than just humans, but the river, the spirits and animals. All life is sacred.
The governments of the world don’t seem to realize this. Similar to the United States, the government of Argentina is being hollowed out by business-minded men with seemingly no care for Earth. Javier Milei, Argentina’s self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” president, recently handed Elon Musk a chainsaw and a metaphor. As multinational corporations take control of global politics, reaching ever deeper into pristine places to satiate an endless appetite for minerals, indigenous peoples defending a traditional way of life are again threatened.
On Feb. 11, the community Pillañ Mahuiza was raided by federal police. Multiple families, including a 74-year-old man and young children born on the land, were threatened by the Commando Unificado who detained them in their homes, searched their belongings, confiscated phones and books, broke windows, carried rifles and allegedly planted weapons.
Vic, a 34-year-old member of the community, was taken and remains in prison. She is accused of setting fires to machines at a distant ranch on Jan. 18. I don’t know what evidence the community holds to prove her innocence, but I do know Vic, and I know that Pillañ Mahuiza has busied itself with building life, not carrying out destructive tasks in far-off places.
You see, Argentina is on fire. Literally, wildfires have destroyed more than 86,500 acres since January, burning down hundreds of homes. After a year of devastating economic adjustments, the people are desperate. President Milei, shortly after being elected, cut the nation’s firefighting budget by 81%. While the government expends its resources persecuting Mapuche, communities risk their lives to defend their homes from uncontrolled fires.
Meanwhile, for decades, the planting of thirsty, combustible Canadian pine trees that acidify the soil and kill the native forest has been subsidized by the government of Argentina, despite the clearly detrimental impacts these invasive plantations are having on the local ecosystems. The increased prominence of wildfires is a direct result of misguided land stewardship.
So, Patagonia is burning. Indigenous communities, intimately vested in the health of their territories, are being raided and framed for the fires. In addition to Pillañ, several other communities were raided on Feb. 11, as well as a Mapuche radio station where the broadcast equipment was destroyed by federal agents. In early January, one community, Lof Paillako, was evicted from recovered territory. Another, Lof Quemquemtrew, braces for the same. Pillañ Mahuiza could be next.
From my partial place, I am certain that this community’s resistance is peaceful. As are the majority of the proud Mapuche who recover territories to practice their traditional ways. Two days after the raids, on Feb. 13, President Milei declared Resistencia Ancestral Mapuche (Ancestral Mapuche Resistance) a terrorist organization on par with Hamas. Most Mapuche communities distance themselves from one Facundo Jones Huala — the leader of RAM, now in prison for acts of arson — who argued that the liberation of his nation includes armed struggle.
The reality is, the government refuses to listen to native wisdom. It would sooner grab the minerals and develop tourism in the shell that remains of a land deprived of her people. Imagine, defenders of the wild rivers and forests near you called “terrorists” and systematically erased.
If you are interested in learning more, I recommend an article by The Guardian called “‘The forests are going up in flames – so is the rule of law’: Argentina’s climate of fear.”
There is an international pledge of solidarity people are asked to sign here: www.bit.ly/Mapuche-pledge
And I’ll keep you posted.
