The Awakening of Mapuzugun (the Mapuche Language): Challenges, Reflections, and Effects of this Struggle in Northern Patagonia, Argentina

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to share and reflect on the Mapuche and Mapuche-Tehuelche struggle to transmit and strengthen Mapuzugun (the Mapuche language)in recent decades. The military campaigns that invaded the indigenous lands now known as Patagonia (Argentina and Chile) are considered critical events that provide clues to understanding not only the genocide but also the years that followed. For this purpose, this article will first contextualize the genocide on the Mapuche people, focusing specifically on the Mapuche language and how elders supressed it s transmission to younger generations.The various examples employed come from on-going doctoral research in the field of memory studies in anthropology and collaborative research that began in 2019, since this author is also part of a Mapuche organization that is oriented towards Mapuzugun’s learning and teaching. The questions, demands, and projects that are considered herein come from different Mapuche organizations and communities that are working toward Mapuzugun revitalization and other political spiritual projects that have language reclamation, use, and transmission as their main concerns.