Celebrating our 20th Anniversary

Voices of Resistance: Mapuche Women Reclaiming Land and Heritage in Chile

In the lush landscapes of Chile’s Lake Lleu Lleu, a remarkable story of resilience unfolds. Here, the largest region under Mapuche control is led by a collective of women who are reclaiming their ancestral lands and restoring their heritage amidst decades of displacement and political repression.

This struggle is deeply personal for Claudia Winkaxipay, a teacher and activist who has lived through the violent legacy of land grabs and deforestation. She recounts how Mapuche families were forced from their homes by wheat farmers and later by forestry companies planting pine and eucalyptus for profit. Sacred sites —a place of ceremony and sustenance—stand as testaments to the Mapuche’s spiritual connection to the land, now encroached upon by industrial interests.

Mapuche women lead this resistance with determination, building schools, sustaining families, and organizing against systemic oppression. The story of Claudia and her community highlights both the resilience of Indigenous peoples and the ongoing threats they face, including surveillance, harassment, and imprisonment. Claudia herself shares the harrowing experiences of Mapuche activists, like a fellow teacher arrested without evidence and subjected to psychological torture, leaving her children in the care of others.

Yet, hope persists. In reclaiming their lands, the Mapuche are also reclaiming their identity, teaching younger generations the importance of sustainability, community, and reverence for nature.

This is more than a fight for territory; it’s a movement for justice, dignity, and the preservation of culture. The Mapuche’s struggle is a reminder of the power of collective action and the necessity of amplifying Indigenous voices in the global conversation about land and environmental justice.

How You Can Help:

  • Share this story to raise awareness about Mapuche land struggles.
  • Support organizations working to protect Indigenous rights and the environment.
  • Learn more about the history of Indigenous land reclamation and its importance in combating climate change.


The Mapuche women’s fight for their ancestral lands is not just a story of survival—it’s a vision for a more just and sustainable future. Their strength, rooted in tradition and community, inspires us all to stand in solidarity with Indigenous struggles worldwide.

Transcript:

00:00:02:00 – 00:00:06:05
When the Chilean Government
took over this territory

00:00:09:18 – 00:00:12:00
The Chileans came in to live

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some from other parts
of the country

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and they became the owners here.

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And they started to plant wheat.

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And they were the big wheat farmers.

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And they expelled the Mapuches

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to live on the sea side.

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And all these hills were all
covered by wheat fields

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before they were planted
with forest plantations.

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Mapuches had to come and work
on their farms.

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They became farms.

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They …

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they had big bins

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for the Mapuches to eat from.

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And barefoot.

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And they took over the property
of the whole shore of the lake.

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And they mistreated people.

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They paid them.

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They were paid with a little bit of wheat.

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The Mapuches

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used to live there,

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were thrown out

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to live close to the ocean.

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They cornered them.

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And then the farms

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during the Pinochet government

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when the forestry companies

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started coming.

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The forestry governments

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paid the big farmers
to turn over their lands

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to start planting
pine and eucalyptus.

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And they gave those farmers
other lands

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that also belonged to the Mapuches.

00:02:04:21 – 00:02:07:21
And the Mapuches were
put into reductions

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and lost their territory.

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In 1990

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the young people, we young people
rose up

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for our parents,

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for our grandparents.

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And we throw them all out.

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The struggle is still going on

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with sticks, with arms, with weapons,

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with a lot of strength.

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Ah, there’s a waterfall
over there.

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That’s where the water comes from,

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that we drink.

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Joff Joff is the name of that.

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It’s also a ceremonial place,
the waterfall.

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A very sacred ceremonial place.

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We take good care of it.

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It’s in the middle of the,

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forestry plantations.

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That’s why we don’t want them here,

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the outsiders,

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because we want to take care of nature,
and they want to destroy it.

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Were dangerous for them.

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We don’t let their
economic interests

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advance.

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When we go around here,

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all of a sudden you
see the drones flying over us.

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And they follow you

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watching what your doing.

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At night when we’re sleeping

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the small planes fly over

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to scare us.

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They don’t let us sleep.

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When we go out to the highway
when their out there

00:04:06:12 – 00:04:08:20
watching us, following us
they stop us.

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Where are you going?

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They ask you for the car’s
documents.

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And they check everything that we have
in the car.

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That’s what they do.

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To raid this whole…

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This is all occupied territory.

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There were about 100…
all of them with guns.

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And they arrested you?

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Yeah…
I was arrested.

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Yeah.

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The teacher who teaches here

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Is a very important person.

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She was a political prisoner for many years

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because she struggled,
for the Mapuche people.

00:05:02:02 – 00:05:02:19
And she had

00:05:02:19 – 00:05:06:00
the longest, the longest hunger strike

00:05:06:00 – 00:05:07:05
in history.

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Now she’s teaching the children

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how to grow these gardens.

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She’s free now.

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We can come in.

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Come here .

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In this territory.

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Which is called….

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There are three families here.

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One of those families has four women.

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The other family has three women,

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one man

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and the oldest person is arrested

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because of the land

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reclaiming process.

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So there are more women here

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who are doing the work.

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So the women here

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take care of

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land things,

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and children, the schools,

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and keeping our economics going.

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The Nyen Roka

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is the name of the head of the place.

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And he has been arrested

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in the Concepcion jail.

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His been there for three months.

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An investigation is under investigation.

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Maybe we can sit down.

00:07:00:10 – 00:07:02:12
We took a year to build the school

00:07:04:11 – 00:07:07:09
Because we built it ourselves.

00:07:08:21 – 00:07:10:12
And we even cut down…

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we cut the wood.

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You’ll see outside, across the river

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we still have the forestry

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plantation.

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00:07:31:08 – 00:07:33:09
So we took pine trees out of there.

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They bought a big saw machine.

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So we would,

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and we transported the lumber across
the lake.

00:08:05:10 – 00:08:09:01
We were working for six months
very tranquilly

00:08:13:19 – 00:08:18:06
and then the Carabineros came in.
The special forces.

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They took away our saw.

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Took it away.

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And they never gave it back.

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So we couldn’t make…

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we’ve managed to build two houses.

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And half of the wood for the school here.

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The rest of the wood.

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We had the collaboration
of the other community

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that you’re going to be visiting
a little later called Focuno.

00:09:03:09 – 00:09:06:11
Their also resisting

00:09:06:15 – 00:09:11:13
and they also go into the the plantations
to get pine trees out for themselves.

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So they helped
us conclude this whole job.

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When we started

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building this school,

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There were a lot of women
in charge of the building.

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La Muen is what they call the women

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the sisters.

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The one sister helped us a lot.

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She came from… where you’re going afterwards.

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And she has been arrested now.

00:09:57:19 – 00:09:59:23
in the Arauco prison.

00:10:00:23 – 00:10:03:14
She’s been there for four months.

00:10:06:18 – 00:10:09:10
She was arrested for political reasons.

00:10:11:03 – 00:10:13:03
She’s accused of organizing

00:10:13:03 – 00:10:15:14
people who are struggling.

00:10:18:13 – 00:10:20:12
She has three small children.

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One is five, one is seven

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and one is ten.

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Her brother is taking care of them.

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She has been tortured in jail…

00:10:37:23 – 00:10:39:11
psychological torture.

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They don’t let her see her children.

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She’s very happy that you are here

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and that you also know her story….

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I went to see her
that last Tuesday evening.

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I told her you were coming.

00:10:59:19 – 00:11:02:10
I said I was going to tell you about her story.

00:11:04:01 – 00:11:07:02
A Mapuche woman held in prison

00:11:08:14 – 00:11:09:10
with no proof.

00:11:12:18 – 00:11:16:16
No concrete proof of what
she is being accused of.

00:11:19:22 – 00:11:21:22
Claudia Now… is her name.

 

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