The Mapuche indigenous people in the Araucanía region of Southern Chile have endured colonisation for well over 500 years, first at the hands of the Spanish settlers and later by the Chilean state. Land struggles and demanding restitution of their former lands is an ongoing issue for the indigenous Mapuche. For them, living without land is in itself a denial of their identity, as Mapuche means People of the Land.
Chilean Pamela Luque, living in Ireland for 20 years, was moved to create this arpillera depicting the oppression of the Mapuche in her native Chile, after viewing a video clip of the aftermath of a Mapuche demonstration in 2012. Here we see the police entering the home of Guillermina Painevilu and her daughter Susanna Guzman, who were onlookers at the demonstration. In the presence of Susanna’s children the police strike the Grandmother and forcibly remove her daughter.
For Pamela, this event represents: “how the Mapuche, particularly women are oppressed and targeted by the police…[who] have the power and feel they can do what they want.”
In the background we see hills dotted with the ancient Arucaria (monkey puzzle) trees, above which the words of a Mapuche poem are inscribed, illustrating the deep Mapuche connection to the land: “Don’t imprison me...let my rivers flow...let the blossoming freedom return.”
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