Calfin Lafkenche (Mapuche) works locally, nationally, and internationally to assert Indigenous human rights. He is a part of Desarrollo Intercultural Chile, serves as the Latin America coordinator of Alianza MILPA and is the coordinator for the Indigenous Minga, a collective of Indigenous leaders across Latin America. In this interview, Lafkenche reflects on the past, present, and future of Indigenous and state healthcare collaborations in Chile.
By Alexandra Carraher-Kang
By Marisol Hitorangi
I am Marisol Hitorangi, spokeswoman of the Hitorangi Clan of Easter Island, Chile. As a Polynesian Clan we are struggling to get our ancestral land back, illegally expropriated by the Chilean State. We have been tortured for decades, as individuals and as a culture.
“This is a historic moment for the Mapuche nation and for all nations of the continent because it is setting a precedent for international opinion in a case in which a First Nation seeks justice and reparation for the violence inflicted by the State.”—Victor Ancalaf, Lof Choin Lafquenche, Mapuche People, Chile
In a major win for Chileans, one of the two corporations behind the HidroAysén mega-dam project has announced it will indefinitely suspend plans to continue with the project in the Aysen region of Chilean Patagonia, reported the National Resource Defense Council last month.
Mapunzugun is a language isolate spoken in Chile and Argentina by the Mapuche people. On February 21, 2012 in Temuco, the capital of Araucanía Region in Chile, several Mapuche organizations and communities organized a first regional march in support of the Mapunzugun language.
Reconocimiento de tierra
Reconocemos que nuestra sede está en la tierra de Massachusetts, en Cambridge, MA, y agradecemos a los administradores Indígenas pasados, actuales y futuros de este territorio.
