Under Pinochet's regime, more than 4,000 Chileans were executed or disappeared. Mapuche lands were reduced from 10 millions hectares to 400,000 hectares.

Wechekeche Ñi Trawün – meaning “young people together” – is a Chilean Mapuche collective that fuses their musical heritage with modern-day urban beats in an effort to keep their ancient Indigenous culture alive. The organization was set up in 2005 by history teacher Axel Paillafilu and other founding members from Santiago. Group members meet up in their clubhouse on a regular basis to organize various activities relating to Mapuche culture, such as cooking, language teaching, history, palin pl...

THE PINOCHET DICTATORSHIP: Chile haunted by a brutal legacy

General Augusto Pinochet was the President of Chile between 1973 and 1990. He overthrew the democratically-elected Marxist Salvador Allende in a violent coup d’état supported by the US gove

PALIN: Reviving Mapuche culture through sport



Palin is an age-old competitive sports game traditionally practiced by the Mapuche people, Chile’s largest native minority group. Named chueca by the Spanish conquerors, this exhilarating sport was originally played to settle tribal disputes. The game consists of 2 teams comprising 5 – 15 players, or peloteros, facing each other in two rows on a large rectangular field. Each player has their own role to play and is paired off against an opponent, kno...

RUCA HOMES: Eco houses designed for Indigenous people

In 2010, the small Mapuche community of Huechuraba, located on the northern outskirts of Santiago, Chile, embarked on an inspirational social housing project. They worked with architects and sponsor

MAPUCHE SPIRITUALITY: Connected to the earth

The Mapuche are a very spiritual people who foster a deep connection to the land and nature and view life as a constant battle between good and evil. Central to their beliefs is the celestial father, or ngen

THE ANTI-TERRORISM LAW: Controversially used against Mapuche activists

Originally enacted by the Pinochet dictatorship in 1984 to curtail any opposition, the anti-terrorism law has been re-implemented by the Chilean government to crack down on crimes r

THE MAPUCHE PEOPLE: A history of resistance

The Mapuche are descendants of the Araucanians and the original inhabitants of Chile and Argentina whose history is steeped in resistance. Today, they constitute about 10% of the Chilean population, making th

Without a doubt one of the biggest scars is the anti-terrorist law that put many Mapuches in prison by criminalizing the fight for the territory that was stolen from us.Wechekeche Ni Trawun

When there will be nothing left, these new millionaires will see that money isn't worth anything. It isn't more valuable than a stream or a river.