Rhythms of Resilience: Transcending Legacies of Indigenous Loss in Wallmapu

Abstract

Current reparation and strategies of political recognition towards Indigenous populations obfuscate resonant histories of oppression through a rhetoric of multicultural inclusion. Chile is no exception to this phenomenon with regard to the Mapuche. Despite state rhetoric promoting Indigenous rights through identity-focused development, a pervasive sense of loss continues to impact Mapuche communities. This work utilizes interviews and conversations with Mapuche individuals to demonstrate what the author terms, rhythms of localized resilience, in the face of a rising collective concern regarding loss of Indigenous knowledge in everyday practice among Mapuche. The work examines how loss operates as a space which galvanizes resurgence strategies and individual agency towards recovery and rehabilitation. I offer an analysis of loss—examining the kinds of losses (material, political and affective) experienced by Mapuche individuals and communities, to argue that loss is in fact, paradoxically, a productive component within revitalization efforts. This work will examine one Mapuche practice, trueque, which emphasizes reciprocity as a mechanism for social wellbeing, as a lens for understanding Mapuche resilience and empowerment in six local communities in southern Chile. This work will contribute to the discussion of Indigenous revitalization efforts and knowledge production by examining the localized actions of resurgence taking place in response to state-imposed conceptions of Indigenous peoples’ needs. I suggest that the forms through which Native peoples interact on a daily basis as a method of intentional resistance against the colonial conceptions of indigeneity matter, they operate as rhythms of resilience, fostering long-term transformation stirring personal responsibility and collective commitment.