The Mapuche fire

Impossible to miss by crossing the region ofAraucania in south-central Chile - graffiti on bus shelters, constant blackouts, pine forests as far as the eye can see. I am in the heart of the Mapuche peoples and things are brewing.

The Chilean forest

“Who does not know the Chilean forest does not know this planet. 
It is from these lands, this mud, this silence that I set out to walk and sing around the world. "
-Pablo Neruda The Chilean Forest

The most famous of Chilean poets would probably not recognize his forest today. Since the advent of General Pinochet in 1973, millions of hectares of this native vegetation, unique in the world, have been replaced by two types of trees: pine and eucalyptus.

Once public land, these huge areas have been sold at a discount to a handful of logging companies. And for more than twenty years, 75% of planting costs were even reimbursed to them by the government. The timber on these 2,5 million hectares today constitutes the second largest export in the country.

And it shows.

By bike, I cross these monocultures for days on end. Endless rows of tall pines, dotted here and there with groves of eucalyptus, recognizable by their paler green and almost bluish leaves. These large expanses are only restricted by clearcuts from which streams of lorries filled with cut logs emerge. Although at a slower pace than at the time of the General, deforestation still continues today. According to a study, native forest could disappear completely outside of national parks.

With this wood also leaves the income of the main economic sector of the region. A region that historically belonged to the Mapuche peoples.

The Mapuche

Current territory of the Mapuche in Chile and Argentina (source: newworldencyclopedia.org).

On Mapuche - whose name means "people of the earth" - are a community of aboriginal peoples sharing the same language and who have inhabited this region of South America for several hundred years. In the 15th century, it was before them that the advance of the Inca Empire stopped. Then the Spanish conquistadors in turn stumbled upon it, and Araucania was never conquered. Until Chile and Argentina became independent in the 19th century and each wanted to push south faster than its neighbor.

This story is also very similar to that of the Amerindians of Canada and the United States, who found themselves caught against these new countries which were racing to conquer their respective West.

The Mapuche, who lived off the forest and surviving agriculture, were thus caught off guard when the forests changed without their benefiting much from it. From the 1970s of change, many then began to work for these huge companies, but at starvation wages.

Over the years, workers claim their rights and are more and more vocal. In 2007, a strike was called to improve their working conditions. It is deemed illegal and police officers shoot protesting workers.

In 2009, the Supreme Court of Chile recognizes the right of the Mapuche to access their ancestral sites to gather traditional medicinal herbs. Too little, too late, these plants are very rare today among monocultures. And without land to cultivate, many inhabitants have gone into exile in the big cities. Of those who remain, 30% live below the poverty line. These communities which form 10% of the country's population are among the poorest in Chile.

Victor, a Mapuche who struggles to live on his small land in the face of global competition.

The smiling Margarita, behind the counter of her restaurant in Cañete.

Resistance

All this information, I get it by doing my research from several online sources, but also by speaking with the local population that I meet on a daily basis. Not very vocal about their situation, especially in front of the foreigner that I am, I nevertheless gain their trust as I generally do around the world: by taking a sincere interest in them and keeping a smile. This is how Margarita, the charming owner of a small snack bar, explains to me the many signs of resistance found at bus stops, in front of schools and public buildings.

Mapuche territory.

The Mapuche nation is resisting.

This school is against violence. We are Mapuche, not terrorists.

I learn that the population does not entirely agree with these acts of resistance, such as forest fires, tire fires, or the many graffiti. But what else can they do when the government sends the army there?

It is also difficult to know what is the precise cause of forest fires and power outages. In addition to acidifying the soil and contaminating rivers for residents and animals, pines each draw more than 20 liters of water per day from the soil. And these like eucalyptus contain highly flammable resins and oils. The summer of the southern hemisphere therefore sometimes causes sparks even in a natural way.

But there is more.

The large forest companies having bet everything on monoculture, it is not uncommon for parasites to infest large areas of these new forests. The insurance will reimburse damage caused by flames, but not the natural destruction of trees by insects. And strangely, trucks demolished by fire are often emptied of their load beforehand.

From there to saying that the big foresters themselves would set fire to their contaminated trees by putting the blame on the natives, there is only one step ... Especially that these companies valued at several billion dollars have in the past been involved in several documented situations of corruption, looting, conspiracies and collusion in Chile.

Bomberos

Alejandro (19 years old) and Ricardo (37 years old), two firefighters in the village of Freire.

In the middle of it all are the firefighters - the bomberos - who work nonstop. Several even fall in battle which rages daily. I stop one night to enjoy the hospitality of the small barracks in the village of Freire. I pitch my tent in the fresh grass, against the outside wall of the garage.

Sixty-six of the 70 firefighters employed here are reservists, and several seem to fall asleep on the spot when it is only the beginning of the evening. They will be woken up soon enough by a new alarm that sounds throughout the village. Reinforcements arrive at the race, by car or bicycle, and all leave as quickly. They will never put the blame on anyone. The work has to be done and it will be done.

The next day, I will learn that a firefighter from the nearby Freire barracks was killed that night.

Calm down before the next call.

The alarm sounded in all the villages, the reservists arrived by car, by running or by bicycle.

Helicopters are at work near the village of Carahue.

Latent tensions and drought are part of normal life everywhere in this region. I ask a farmer why so many houses here seem to have their own personal water towers, despite municipal running water. He replies that the supply of this water is often lacking and that it is more prudent to reserve it when possible.

Elsewhere in Chile, however, the rest of the population is far from this reality. They only know billionaire Mapuche and forest girls what they can occasionally read in the mainstream media. A truth that is often incomplete and twisted.

However, the first resistance is first of all knowledge. And my listening, this sharing, these few photos, it is the little shoulder to the wheel that I can offer to these people in exchange for their history, their hospitality and their trust.