The Chilean Mapuche-Pehuenches’ meeting with the energy company
A Minor field study in Chile
Marianne von Malmborg
SAN 504, D course in Social Anthropology
at the University of Lund
September 1999
Supervisors: Kajsa Ekholm Friedman
(Sweden) and Astrid Stoehrel (Chile)
Index
1. Introduction and research
questions
*
2. A presentation of the
problem *
3. Method and theory *
3.1 Method
*
3.2 Theory
*
4. Who are living in Alto
Bío Bío?
*
4.1 The
concept of Life *
4.2 Religion
*
4.3 The
Cosmic world *
4.4 Organisation
*
4.5 The
land issue *
4.6 The
economy *
4.7 The
language *
5. The Ralco project in
Alto Bío Bío
*
5.1 Chile
in a larger perspective *
5.2 The
actors involved *
5.2.1 Organizations *
5.2.2 GABB *
5.2.3 The State, Chile and neo-liberialism
*
6. What has happened in
the area? *
6.1 Two cultures meet *
6.1.1 Differences in customs and values
*
6.1.2 Environment *
6.1.3 Poverty and richness *
6.1.4 Written vs spoken words *
6.1.5 Discrimination *
6.1.6 Work conditions *
6.1 7 Relocation of the comunidades *
6.1.8 New diseases *
6.2 Divided in two *
6.2.1 The people opposing the project *
6.2.2 So why is it that so many people have agreed to the permutas?
*
6.2.3 Mechanisms behind the actions *
7. Future *
8. Etnocidium or not? *
9. Conclusion *
10. Bibliography *
1. Introduction and research questions
In this work I wish to show some of the problems, which can be related to a development project by calling attention to one specific case, the dam project Ralco in Alto Bío Bio, Chile. This place inhabits the indigenous people Mapuche-Pehuenches. As a result of the dam building, the dwelling places of the Pehuenches will inundate. Therefor, the people have been offered other land in compensation of their original land, where they have been living for ages. My research questions are; What are the impacts of this project on the Pehuenches of Alto Bío Bío? In what ways is it possible to say that the Pehuenche culture will disappear if the dam project goes on?
Why did I choose this subject? First, I find Chile an interesting country in many ways. Chile is considered the "economical miracle of South America", because it has succeeded to increase their GNP, in the last years, in a speed not comparable with its neighbouring countries. Chile, like the other South American countries, also inhabits indigenous people, for example the Aymaras, the Rapa Nui and their largest indigenous group, the Mapuches. I took a great interest in the Mapuche culture and how the Mapuches had been affected by modern development project in Chile. In November 1998 I attended a seminar held in Stockholm by the NGO (non-governmental organization) GABB (Grupo de Acción por el Bío Bío) – an environmental organization fighting for the survival of the ecological system alongside the river Bío Bío. There were also two Mapuche women invited to speak on the seminar, Nicolasa Quintremán and Sara Imilmaqui. They represented a women’s group defending the Mapuche land threatened to inundate on the account of the huge dam project Ralco in Alto Bío Bío. On the seminar, they showed pictures of a beautiful nature and of the people living there called the Pehuenches, a branch of the Mapuche people. The women spoke about their experiences and feelings in such a fascinating way, that I felt I just had to go there and see for myself. Otherwise it is hard to understand what is really going on over there without seeing it with my own eyes or trying to experience myself what the people is going through. I was lucky to get a Minor Field Study scholarship from Sida, the Swedish International Development and Co-operation Agency, and all of a sudden I could make my dreams come through.
I start this paper with a presentation of the Mapuche people in Chile and the development project Ralco in Pehuenche land, Alto Bío Bío. After that comes the method & theory-part, followed by a description of the Mapuche-Pehuenche culture. I find it important in this work to explain the Mapuche-Pehuenche way of thinking and concept of life. It is then easier to understand the mechanisms behind their actions in this case. I then present the Ralco project and the impacts on the Pehuenche people. Finally, I will try to analyse how the Ralco project will affect the Mapuche-Pehuenche culture. Will it disappear or is this just an inevitable change caused by the meeting of two cultures?
2. A presentation of the problem
The Mapuche people is the
largest ethnic group in Chile and constitutes approximately 10% (more than
1.000.000 people) of the Chilean population. Half of them live in the south
of Chile from the river Bío Bío until the Chiloé Island.
The other half is found in and around the capital, Santiago. There are
also around 300.000 Mapuches living in Argentina. The Mapuche people call
themselves differently according to where they live, for example the Huilliche,
people from the south, the Lafkenche, people from the west or the Nagche,
people of the valley. Pehuenches, people of the pehuen tree (auracaria)
area, is one part of the Mapuche people, who live in the Andes and alongside
the Bío Bío River (Hernandez 1998:8,22).
Mapuche Ancestral Territory (Page for Mapuche Information)
Today the Mapuches in Chile face a lot of problems. Chile is a strongly pronounced class society where the Mapuches belong to the lowest class. They are discriminated both in a social-economical and a historical way. They have in centuries lost more and more of their land, which results in migration to the big cities. They have difficulties getting jobs, because of the racism that is deeply rooted in the Chilean society. There have always been strategies from the State and the Church, to assimilate "the Indians" into the Chilean society. During the Pinochet era, all Mapuche land was privatised and to a large extent sold out to wealthy landlords and foreigners. Pinochet also introduced new laws which declared that their were "no indigenous people in Chile, only Chileans" (Alfaro/Calbucura 1996:42). Most Mapuche organizations that exist today have their origin from this era. The last years’ governments in Chile have taken another standpoint towards the indigenous people with higher degree of acceptance. In 1993 was the Indigenous Act, Ley Indígena (no 19.253), introduced, which will provide protection, promotion and development of the indigenous groups in Chile. At the same time was CONADI (Corporación Nacional de Desarollo Indígena) formed. It is a state authority, with both Chilean and indigenous representatives, which task is to control that the cultural development of indigenous people is protected, provided and respected. Its duty is also to conserve Mapuche land, so that it is being used in a proper way, that will say maintain an ecological balance. For the first time in Chile’s history, it is officially accepted that Chile is a multiethnic society.
In the same time, Chile has a high pressure to develop fast according to a neo-liberal model, which gives priority to capitalistic values and puts human and environmental issues on second place. Large-scale development projects, which were initiated during the dictatorship, go on today. There are roads being built through Mapuche areas, the forest is being felled in at lightning speed and big power plants are being constructed in the rivers (Calbucura 1997).
The case that I will present in this work, is in this manner only one example of development projects that has vast consequences on the Mapuches in Chile, and only one example of modern development that affects indigenous people. It is called the Ralco Project or Proyecto Ralco. The largest energy company of Chile, ENDESA (Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A.), has started building a huge dam, Ralco, in an area called Alto Bío Bío in the south of Chile. Alto Bío Bío is famous for its extraordinary nature. It is situated in the Andes near the Argentinean boarder and along the shores of the river Bío Bío, which stretches right across the country. In Alto Bío Bío one finds a unique eco-system with a richness of nature resources. It has its own fauna and flora, there are volcanoes in the area and high up in the mountains grows the pine-tree auracaria (or pehuen in Mapuche language). The pehuen tree has given name to the people living in Alto Bío Bío, the Pehuenches. They are important bearers of the Mapuche culture, since they have lived relatively isolated on this place, until ENDESA came here in the 70s and changed the situation dramatically. The Ralco dam is only one of seven dams planned to be built here and also the most extensive. It will inundate large areas of Mapuche land, which means that if the Ralco dam will be concluded, 91 Pehuenche families would have to move from their land. This has created a division among the families, since some of them have agreed to move, but still some of them resist leaving their homes. The people opposing the project have the law to protect their rights, but that does not stop the powerful energy company ENDESA to carry on with their project. There is more to this. The families that have accepted to move, have in the same time accepted another way of living, a Chilean or Winka way of life, different from their traditional way. Winka is a term on Mapuche language, Mapudungun, which is used to describe something or somebody not Mapuche, mostly Chilean or representative of the Western culture (FIDH, Johnston/Turner 1998:5-7).
I have chosen to use methods from Alvesson & Sköldbergs book Tolkning och reflektion and theories from Barth (1989) and Hannerz (1992) about cultural flows and streams, Friedman (1992) about the individual’s change in times of postmodernity, and some thoughts by Max-Neef on an alternative development model.
Alvesson & Sköldberg present the methods the emperical method, the hermaneutic model, critical theory and postmodernism. Their purpose is to contribute to a more scientific qualitative research and method, where the method is being made more intellectualised and the research more reflecting. They want to abandon an old way of thinking, which has been prevailing in Anthroplogy, where the researcher went out to his research objects with an unquestionable authority. With simple means the researcher could find the core of a culture, through an active participating or by standing beside the culture or society and observe it. It could be enough just to analyse one single phenomenon, a ceremony for example, in order to be able to make an interpretation on the whole society. Often the final result said more about the author himself, than the object he had studied. A culture was often presented as isolated or static. In the Malinowski era, the researcher was supposed to "catch the native’s point of view", but this is something Anthropologists of today have left behind. The researcher today goes out in field coloured with his or her own experiences and culture. Together with representatives of the other culture, a mutual product is created. Alvesson & Sköldberg represent a model where different methods are being used, in order not to get stuck in only one (often comfortable) track. This is called a reflexive interpretation.
I have, in this work, chosen to be selfreflective. In other words, I am aware of that I represent another culture. I am a foreigner or winka, I am also a student in Anthropology and an (unmarried, childless) woman among other things. To be a foreigner (maybe also a woman) helped me a lot to get in contact with the Chileans, who were most helpful to a Swedish student. Being a woman helped me also to come in good contact with the resistance movement in Alto Bío Bío, since it is led by women and also because of the high status a woman has in Mapuche culture. But here, being a winka and studying Anthropology was met with scepticism in the beginning.
When I arrived to Alto Bío Bío, I was aware of the fact that I had to change my plans to run around with a tape recorder to interview people, the ones supporting and the ones opposing the project. To be able to stay in the area required hard work in order to help the families in their daily work. This meant for example cutting wood, fetching water, watering plants, cooking, making bread, digging dirt, washing cloths and wool etc. Meanwhile, I could talk to people and take notes afterwards. This was often problematic since Spanish was neither theirs, nor mine, first language. Another hindrance was that it was hard going up into Alto Bío Bío being objective. I was marked by my first contacts, which were the people against the project, with whom I was living. This resulted in difficulties making contacts with people for the project. The so called "endesados" (Pehuenche people agreeing with ENDESA’s project) in the area had quickly adopted the Western way of life and made money in forms of kiosks with the most necessary groceries; cigarettes, candles, batteries etc, and sold this to a higher cost than in the closest town, Ralco. This is something new in the area, which has been introduced by the ENDESA. The "endesados" make money, for example, of the volunteers staying in the area to support the opposing people. When there was a manifestation in the area against Ralco, my neighbour "made a fortune" by selling bread to the over 1.000 protesters coming from all of the country to protest against ENDESA in the area. So when I had to do minor shopping, I came into contact with the people in favour of the project as well. It was a sensitive area to discuss the subject, but they pointed out to me that I, who came from a developed country, ought to understand that this people wanted the electricity among other things ENDESA could offer them. Even if the people in the area accepted me after a while, it was hard in the beginning. They had had many bad experiences with anthropologists in the area who have used their studies in purposes that have not served the Pehuenches, at the contrary. This resulted in that I was tested hard in the beginning. I was called "idiota" and "ignorante" among other things and I was not a real woman because I did not know how to make bread in the ashes. In the beginning I could not understand why they treated me so hard, still they wanted me to help everyday and asked me a lot of questions about my country. Now I can understand why.
My method during my time in Alto Bío Bío I would call "participating observation" with "informal interviews" and this is my most important and instructive time. So then, some of the material used in this work is collected through own experiences and talking to people. Besides, I have collected material from Universities and organizations all over Chile and made "formal interviews" with key persons. Before I went to Chile I collected material in Swedish libraries and on Internet. The quotations used in this work are, most of them, originally in Spanish, so I have taken the liberty to translate them into English.
To do a work like this in Chile is not always easy. For one thing, everywhere I went I needed so-called pitotos – contact persons, someone who had recommended me, otherwise it was very hard get in contact with people and organizations. One thing I learnt as well, was the Chilean hour, which meant the Chileans always show up at least one hour after settled time, if they show up at all. Among the Mapuches, I often met scepticism and reservation. One man, who represented a Mapuche organization, explained to me that it had to do with their dignity. For them, I am a foreigner and a winka, who comes to their country, writes about their culture, but afterwards the result is likely to stay in my country. Most former material about Mapuche culture has been written by non-Mapuches, and not always to their advantage. This calls for a critical examination of the obtained material. There is also a need amongst the Mapuches themselves to define their culture. In Alto Bío Bío another man told me that there was a lot of people coming to their homes; anthropologists, foreigners and volunteers, "good people and bad people" and it was hard to distinguish one from the other. Therefor they do not receive anyone with open arms, which I clearly understand and also had to experience. ENDESA, for example, has anthropologists of its own in the area.
To use a hermaneutic model I want to put this problem into a larger context. The division amongst the Pehuenches in Alto Bío Bío could be put into a larger context by studying a division that has taken place amongst the Mapuches all over Chile, as a result of meeting with the Chilean society. In a global perspective, one can see external conditions that have formed the approaching of indigenous people and a different development discourse (page 21).
The critical theory questions the modern society. The division in Alto Bío Bío and amongst Mapuches all over Chile, shows clearly a response to modernity, with some people adapting the new way of life while the others struggle to defend and define their culture. The tendency that we can see today in development contexts, is an increasing acceptance of and understanding for multi-ethnical societies and environmental issues. The capitalistic model is still dominating, though, and development and democracy are not always compatible.
Barth and Hannerz (1989, 1992) have in their works pointed out that we have to redefine our cultural concept. We cannot study cultures as isolated, like a mosaic work. All societies are permeated by cultural influences (flows or streams). Some of them are rejected while others travel better, and that is what is interesting to study. I find this interesting in this case, since a meeting of cultures have taken place. This has led to a division among the Mapuche-Pehuenches. Some of the people have quickly accepted a new way of life, while others are willing to die for their culture. The Mapuches have, from the first meeting with the Europeans, been influenced by the culture of the outer world. They have, for example, introduced the wheat into their culture and horses and firearms into their warfare. Polygamy is also a result of long time of war. The withdrawal of land has led to an increasing urbanization, where Mapuches assimilate into the majority society, feel ashamed of their origin, which quickly falls into oblivion. Modern development with forest industry and building of roads and dams make Mapuche structures continue to break down. In Alto Bío Bío, an important eco-system is threatened to disappear and with that a richness of medicine plants and araucarias, the basis of the Pehuenche economy. The Mapuche religion is also strongly influenced by the Catholic Church. The Mapuche people have always had a big pressure on them to assimilate into the Chilean society, especially during the Pinochet era. Still, they have succeeded to keep many of their traditions alive, like the ceremony nguillatún and the language mapudungun and today the Mapuche movement is becoming stronger.
Jonathan Friedman (1992) points out how different capital flows in a global context have direct influence on the individual. The modern time gave birth to an individualistic ego and during times of postmodernism, people feel insecure. We can see how people are searching for new communities and norms; in the first world, we join religious sects or Green Peace, third world countries search the truth outside themselves, the Congolese wants to become a Parisian, and in the forth world, indigenous people starts seeking their roots and define their culture and traditions. I would like to imply those theories on the Pehuenches, whose division in this case shows a third and a forth world movement respectively. From the start, all of the Pehuenches opposed the changes in life offered to them by ENDESA, but after a time of hard pressure, the majority of the people wanted the new way of life. This division amongst the Mapuches are also clear all over Chile, where urban Mapuche deprecate their culture while in the same time the Mapuche movement is getting stronger and struggles to be accepted in the majority society, get their land back, introduce bilingual education and redefine their cultural concept. The Mapuche-Pehuenche people are not alien to the idea of meeting with the outer world. They want the help and support from the Government, but in form of a mutual co-operation where the Pehuenches get a chance to participate in their own development.
In the Ralco case, many people have accused ENDESA of ethnocidium, an extermination of an ethnic group, in this case the Mapuche-Pehuenches, or more mildly put, destroying a culture. This is a serious accusation and with the basis of the theories of Barth/Hannerz and Friedman, I aim to analyse in what forms we can talk about destruction or disappearence of a culture, if the project goes on. It can help us to get a clearer picture of what has happened in Alto Bío Bío when two cultures meet, and why people are acting like they are.
I would also like to add some thoughts about development, since this paper treats a development project, which has received a great support from Scandinavian countries, the World Bank and European banks. Hopefully, this paper raises the reader’s questions about what kind of development project we want in the future. Chile is an interesting country in this sense, since it is called the "the miracle of Latin America" when development is at stake. The country has done wonders with increasing its GNP (Gross National Product), which is our way of measuring the development of a country. When I told people in Sweden that I had received an MFS-scholarship from Sida to go to Chile, many of them asked me: "Why? Chile is not a developing country, is it?" If we take a closer look, we have not yet seen the "trickle-down effect" in Chile, where the welfare automatically reaches the poorest people in the society (Smekal 1993). Chile is one of the top-ten countries when it comes to unequal distribution and a strongly pronounced class society. The lowest class is the indigenous people. The withdrawal of land has forced the Mapuches into the majority society where they have to assimilate and often dissociate from their origin in order to survive. Today, in Chile, we are slowly moving forward towards a different thinking when it comes to accepting a multi-ethnic society, but still, when mega-projects are at stake, as in this case, we can for example see that the laws that are supposed to protect the indigenous’ rights are not working.
During my time in Chile I had the honour to meet the economist Manfred Max-Neef. He is a so-called "barefoot-economist", since he has presented new development models, where the development is supposed to come from the "grassroots", the large group of people that are closely affected by development projects, but seldom get their voice heard. Max-Neef calls those people "the invisible mass". He pleads for a development in which we shall go from "destructive gigantism to creative smallness", redistribute the power and give priority to human and environmental issues. His ideas are interesting in a case like this where a mega-project is at stake, which leads to vast consequences for a people and an eco-system.
4. Who are living in Alto Bío Bío?
The Pehuenches is a branch of the Mapuches, who live on the boarder of the VIII and IX region of Chile (page 19) and constitute a population of approximately 5.100 people (FIDH). They are important carriers of the Mapuche culture, due to the fact that they have lived relatively isolated from contact with the Chilean society and therefor been able to keep the culture intact. They live on what the earth provides, as small-scale farmers, collectors, hunters and cattlemen. The Chilean State has not had any particular interest in the Pehuenche people until quite recently, when the power company ENDESA started building hydroelectric plants in the area of Alto Bío Bío. Now the problem is well-known in Chile and all over the world.
Mapuche in Mapudungun means people of the earth, mapu = earth and che = people. They live in a close relationship with nature and claim that without earth they are not Mapuches. This fact is related to the great problems that the Mapuches in Chile have experienced the last centuries with withdrawal of land. When they do not have land enough to supply them, people are forced to move into big cities, where the culture cannot reproduce. This is why restoration of land is one of the most important issues in the Mapuche movement struggle. The relation to Nature is also one of the greatest differences between the Mapuche and the Western concept of life.
The fact that the Mapuche-Pehuenches live through the Nature and not of it, I could clearly understand when I was staying with them in Alto Bío Bío. The people speak of Nature with high respect, the River and the Earth which give them force or power – Newen, power to defend their ancestors’ land and power to live. Someone told me that the warriors used to bath in the river Bío Bío before a battle to get newen. The Nature is a force and the humans get power and nourish from it. That is why it has to be treated with respect. Ñaña Nicolasa explains it like this:
In the Western concept of life, Nature and Culture are separate, like two opposite poles. There is a strong hierarchic structure where Man is the highest of all the living. The Bible text from the creation narrative myth supports this:
"The animals are our younger brothers. They do not speak, but communicate mentally … The animals are of great use to us all. They do not fight amongst each other. They do not destroy, like the Man. They do not attack if they are not attacked. Therefor you should be grateful and look after them well." (Hoszek/Jelves 1994:16)
The Mapuches have never built big monuments, because the Nature is the temple, which is gently taken care of and respected. The Pehuenches calls God Cha Chao, but he is called differently among different Mapuche people. Traditionally they are a theoistic people, but through many years of influence from the Catholic Church, Mapuche religion has developed to be more monoistic, with the worship of one higher god. Behind the Church were always the State, because to carry on mission among the indigenous, is one way to get them to assimilate into Chilean society (Hozek/Jelves 1994:10-11, Rodriguez 1983:266-268).
In Mapuche religion a number of ceremonies exist, where the nguillatún is the most important, because it helps conserve the traditional hierarchy and reconstruct the Mapuche culture and values. Up to hundreds of people gather in the ceremony, and it varies from region and in purpose. It can be related to certain events or take form of a fertility ceremony. In Alto Bío Bío, a ceremony was being held during a protest march against the ENDESA. I also attended a nguillatún outside the city Temuco, where people came from all over the country. It is held once a year and is a good forum for information. All the comunidades represented let some of its authorities, a machi (medicine woman), a lonko (chief) or a werken (spokesman), inform the others what had happened in their respective comunidad the last year.
As an effect of Ralco, eight graveyards and a number of places were the nguillatún is carried out, would be inundated.
The Mapuche Cosmic world consists of three levels:
It is easy to interpret this in a Western way with heaven, the good above, and hell, the evil underneath the Earth. This is not so, in Mapuche cosmic thinking. The good and the evil exist on all levels. The structure has the form of a circle. There is no hierarchy between them. They, instead, complete each other. The Mapuche body of laws, Admapu, has its origin from those principles, and constitutes the base a democratic society without social groups (Hozek/Jelves 1994:19-20, Rodriguez 1983:258-260).Wenu Mapu – the heaven, the future Nag Mapu – the present, the Nature, the Culture Miñche Mapu – the past, the unknown
The Mapuche people live in comunidades – communities or societies. La comunidad has been one of the most important symbols of the Mapuche movement, because of the struggle to keep the comunidades autonomous and not incorporated into the Chilean society. It is only in the comunidad that the Mapuche culture can reproduce. There are approximately 2.900 comunidades in Chile, and traditionally they are situated with great distance from each other. Comunidades have their origin from the so-called reduction society in the end of the 19th century, when the Mapuches were finally defeated by the Chileans. They were forced to move into small reserves, which had the poorest soil for agriculture. The people were also put under the guidance of some lonko, chief, whom they, in many cases, had not chosen themselves. This was also a strategy from the State to weaken the Mapuche people so that they should assimilate into the "big society" (Cuadra 1995, Rodriguez 1983:439-442).
Within the comunidad the people live according to a form of collectivism and solidarity called lof-kudan or mingaco. This means that everyone places his or her animals and equipment at the disposal of the whole comunidad and also contributes with labour when a house or a bridge is to be built or a ceremony is to take place. This collective form of ownership is not compatible with neo-liberalism, which characterizes the Chilean society (Cuadra 1995).
There are seven comunidades in Alto Bío Bío; Callaqui, Pitril, Cauñico, Malla Malla, Trapa Trapa, Quepuca Ralco and Ralco Lepoy. Every one of them has a population between 240 and 400 inhabitants except for Ralco Lepoy where the population consists of 800 people. The two comunidades which are most affected by the Ralco project are Quepuca Ralco (11.710 ha) and Ralco Lepoy (5.634 ha). They are going to be flooded to a large extent, and the energy company ENDESA is making a great effort to convince those people to sign contracts (permutas) saying they will leave their land and move to other areas (Morales 1998:85).
Before the meeting with the "white man", existed in the Mapuche society a form of direct democracy where all the lonkos presented their opinion in the decision making. Everyone was chosen to his or her task by free will and capability. There were no masters and slaves and no centralised power. Everyone was equal, even to animals and plants, since everything is a part of cosmos. In addition to this, the comunidades were situated far away from each other, made it hard for other people to conquer the Mapuches. As a member of the Mapuche society, you had a responsibility towards the others in the comunidad, but the individual was autonomous and free not to agree with his or her group. This is what the Admapu law says about leadership:
"A leader must always be elected and can be a leader as long as he is allowed to lead."
(Hozek/Jelves 1994:15)
During peace negotiations with the Spaniards in the 17th century, a new representation system was introduced which replaced the old one. The Spaniards demanded a more efficient representation system, which led to that the representatives of the Mapuches were drastically reduced in number (Hozek/Jelves 1994:7-8).
The traditional hierarchy that exists among the Mapuches consists of the lonko, the chief and the machi, who is the medicine woman (the machi can also be a man), the carrier of all gathered wisdom and the one who keeps the culture intact. There is also the ngenpin, who watches over the religious life and the weipife, who administer the traditional wisdom. Ultimately, there is the werken, the spokesman. Their respective roles have changed over time and nowadays the lonko, the machi and the werken are the most prominent. Alto Bío Bío lacks for the moment a machi, and when there is need for her, they have to call someone from another area. The Mapuches do not just chose one person to be the machi. According to Mapuche believes, it is the Nature itself that chooses and the individual gets some kind of message of being a chosen one. The machi is an important link between Nature and Man. She often chooses not to learn Spanish, to mark that they care for their culture and language (Hozek/Jelves 1994:21, Rodriguez 1983:269-270).
One of the greatest problems for the Mapuches in Chile is the land problem. Without land, without the earth, they cannot reproduce their culture. They can no longer be Mapuches. This is why the question of restoring Mapuche land is fundamental for the Mapuche movement. In Mapuche believes, the thought of selling or buying the land is absurd, like the thought of starting selling and buying the air. That is why ENDESA has difficulties to compensate the people who resist to move, with money or material things.
In the year 1641, the Mapuches signed a contract with the Spanish Crown, which allotted them all land south of the Bío Bío River. After the forming of the nation state Chile (1810), the Chileans did not consider the old agreement with the Spaniards valid. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Mapuche land has been the object of invasion and colonisation. After the Mapuches were definitely defeated by the Chileans in 1881, started the reduction era, where the Mapuches were forced to move to reserves on the poorest land and live with people they were not related to. This is the cause for the poverty that Mapuche people face today in the Chilean Society. The presidents Eduardo Frei (1964-70) and Salvador Allende (1970-73) introduced agrarian reforms, in order to give the Mapuches some of their old land back. This took an abrupt turn through the Military Coop 1973, when Pinochet came into power. The General founded new laws, which declared that all land was private and could be sold out. They also said that there existed in Chile no indigenous land or indigenous people, only Chileans. During this era, rich landowners and foreigners bought a great part of the Mapuche land. Mapuches were also followed, murdered or had to flee the country (Correa 1997).
The progress in the latest years, is the Ley Indígena, which came into force 1993. With this law – the Indigenous Act – the indigenous cannot be forced to move from their land. If the Government or a company wants to move indigenous from one place to another, they have to offer a piece of equal land. This is called the permuta. If the owner does not accept the permuta, no transfer can take place (Ley Indígena, No 19.253, article 13). The majority of the people in Alto Bío Bío has agreed to sign the permutas, 84 families out of 91, but seven families still refuse to sign the permutas. According to the law, if only one single person does not agree, there cannot be an agreement. Therefor the Ralco project is illegal, and the fact that ENDESA is carrying on with their project, shows clearly that the democracy does not work in Chile, and that the capitalistic values are more powerful than human and environmental issues. One anthropologist working for ENDESA told me that he is convinced that the people opposing the project "will come to their senses" and sign the agreements and that ENDESA can use another law, Ley Energía, the Energy Act, that is superior the Indigenous Act. But still, ENDESA has not brought this matter to court, they are just carrying on with the construction of power plants in the area. I told this man that when I had talked to people in Alto Bío Bío, I got the impression that those people will never give up. What will happen to them? "Then the Police will have to take them away", he explained. Other people say that those Pehuenches will die, because they will never move, and unfortunately ENDESA will not stop their project, just because of some indigenous living in the area.
The fact that the Bío Bío River draws the line where the Mapuches succeeded to resist the Spaniards and the limit where traditional Mapuche land starts, is an important historical symbol and monument for the Mapuches. The river is looked on as a woman and a mother, who is now slowly meeting her death, if the energy company goes on with their big dam project. Ralco is only one of seven dams that are to be built in the Bío Bío.
The Mapuche economy consists of agriculture and animal breading. It is complemented with other parts depending on where they live. Amongst the Pehuenches the economy is characterised by the system of veranada and invernada. The name Pehuenche comes from the pine tree pehuen (auracaria), which is a unique specie in the area of Alto Bío Bío. Their fruits or nuts, piñones, constitute the basis in the Pehunches’ food.
The system of veranda/invernada means that the Mapuche-Pehuenches’ activities change depending on the season. This system has developed according to the existing circumstances in Alto Bío Bío, which is situated in the mountain chain with its large differences in altitude and according to the presence or absence of snow. During the Autumn and Winter time (May – December) the people live on the lower sector by the river - invernada, where it snows the least and which permits animal breading during the winter. This is where the people have their permanent dwellings and places for agriculture. In the Summer and Spring time (January – April), the people’s activities move to areas 1.000 meters above the ocean, up in the mountains – veranada, to collect piñones and take the animals to graze. The invernada/veranada system is complemented with agriculture, forestry, collecting and animal breading and shows the close relation between Nature and Man (Morales 1998:92-113). The form of agriculture in Western culture compared to Mapuche-Pehuenche differs a lot, above all because Mapuche concept of life does not include the thought that you can exploit the earth without limits.
Mapuche language, Mapudungun, which means the language of the earth, is an important part of the Mapuche identity and is in many ways different from the Chilean language. Mapudungun explains the Mapuche concept of life and their origin from Nature. For example they have names of the animals that are related to family.
In Chilean society, Mapudungun is considered useless. It is not being taught in school and in cities, where there is a high competition to get jobs, Mapuche people soon forget their language. They even change their Mapuche names, because of the racism that is still strong among the Chileans. Old prejudices that the Mapuches are "dirty and lazy" make employers not likely hire Mapuche labour. Because of the problem of the invasion of sold-out of Mapuche land, many Mapuches have to move to slums of the big cities, looking for work. In the hard climate of the cities, they soon forget their origin and language. Nowadays there is a strong teacher’s group working for introducing Mapudungun and Mapuche history in the schools, but they are facing great financing problems, since the State does not support activities of this kind.
Mapudungun is traditionally a spoken language, which was carried on by the weipifes or history men. Today there are many machis, medicine women, who never learn to speak Spanish, to point out that they protect the Mapuche culture and values. Illiteracy is common among the Mapuches in Chile. Sometimes, the parents have not wanted their children to go to Chilean schools because of their own experiences of bad treatment in Chilean schools and sometimes they cannot afford it (interview with Xeg-Xeg).
5. The Ralco project in Alto Bío Bío
The Ralco project must be
seen as a larger project of building a series of dams, seven in total,
and Ralco is only the second, though the largest. If it is built, the dam
will support Chile with 570 MW of electricity, reach 155 m and put an area
of 3.467 ha under water. The people of the comunidades Ralco Lepoy
and Quepuca Ralco will have to be relocated to other territories, since
their present territories and houses will be flooded, an area of 683 hectares.
The families directly affected are 91 in number. The total investment in
the Ralco project is estimated to US$ 500 millions, which includes 20 millions
to Pehuenche families. Ralco is going to be built 27 km higher up from
Pangue in the Bío Bío River and will dam up 1.222 million
m3 of water (FIDH, El Mercurio, El Sur 990418).
(Page for Mapuche Information)
The plans for this project were formed by ENDESA in the 70s, and this is when they started to show up in Alto Bío Bío. ENDESA (Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A.) is one of the most powerful private companies in Chile. Pangue, which was finished in 1997, "only" put 500 ha under water. When they started building here the Ley Indígena did not yet exist and the Pehuenches had hardly been in contact with Winkas before. During the building of Pangue, ENDESA and one of the most important sponsors, IFC (International Finance Corporation), formed the Fundación Pehuen, a foundation designed to compensate the people living in the area. They offered the people gifts to their households and education to the children. They also offered all the men employments, but in Alto Bío Bío were also widows and single women, who later on formed the strong resistance movement. Fundación Pehuen was strongly criticised by an American anthropologist, Theodore Downing, who analysed the Pangue project and detected some serious threats on the human rights of the Pehuenches. They were not informed about the second dam, Ralco, in what forms the project would affect the comunidad or how they could participate. This information from 1996 was ignored by ENDESA and IFC (Johnson/Turner 1998:1-7).
During the construction of the Pangue dam, ENDESA had great financial support from the World Bank, Swedish BITS (Swedish Board for Investment and Technical Support), the Norwegian Agency for Development, NORAD, and European banks. They have all later on drawn back their support, because of the estimated consequences for the environment (Calbucura 1997). Not until the Pangue dam was almost built, it stood clear for the Mapuche-Pehuenches that another dam, seven times the size of the first one, was at stake. To be able to build Ralco, approximately 500 to 1.000 people would have to be relocated. 300 Mapuche leaders gathered to analyse the Ralco project. They all rejected it, but over time, ENDESA has succeeded to convert the majority of the people closest affected by Ralco, to be in favour of the project (Morales 1998:193-221). The Ralco project must be considered illegal, since they started building here without the approval of CONAMA or CONADI. CONAMA is the national environment committee and CONADI is the co-operation for indigenous development. CONAMA gave its approval in 1997 with certain conditions (Johnston/Turner 1998:5-7) CONADI has not yet given their approval since the project is against the law, formed by the government in 1993, where it says that indigenous land cannot be sold, only changed to other land, permutado. They did, however, analyse the signed permutas and, in January 1999, approved of the majority of them (El Sur 990313). This is a test for Chile’s democracy, it will show how willingly the Government is to protect the country’s indigenous population and follow the Ley Indígena.
5.1 Chile in a larger perspective
When I talk to people in the city of Santiago, many are tired of the frequent power failures. Some days the power is cut off two to three hours a day. One can imagine the consequences at the hospitals, the schools and the offices. ENDESA is generating 80% of the electricity in Chile and holds 60% of the water rights (World Watch). Therefor, they have a natural monopoly, an enormous power and are good at influencing the public opinion to support mega-projects like Ralco. Ecologists, like the non-governmental organization (NGO) GABB, on the other hand point out the catastrophic risks with the construction of dams as large as Ralco. There are alternatives to the Ralco project, to supply Chile with energy, but since ENDESA has such great power, they are the ones to decide and now they have chosen the river Bío Bío and have the support from the Government. The "barefoot-economist" Manfred Max-Neef takes the same standpoint as GABB. He thinks it is unbelievable that Chile’s Government supports a dam project of this size, when there are so many examples in the world where thousands of people have been killed because of the uncontrollable consequences that follow when there are accidents with "mega-dams". He also says that those dams only last approximately 50 to 70 years. So this must be seen as a development thinking in a short perspective or more frankly, a way for ENDESA to make money. Swedish BITS that was one of the financiers of Pangue, estimated, out of 140 suggestions how to supply Chile with energy, the Ralco project to the cheapest alternative (Agora 1997:60). We are here talking about a cost in money, not in cultural or environmental value, which is harder to estimate in numbers. It has been a trend the last decades, with more knowledge about environmental issues that companies without scruples establish in developing countries. The present development policy is based on the principle of the minimum cost of investment and the maximum profit for the companies, without any consideration about damages on environment or people, neither the continuity in time (World Watch). This kind of project would not be approved in countries like Sweden or Norway, for example. One often hears arguments like "a minority like the Pehuenches should understand that this is best for the majority, for the country Chile – we need the electricity!" In Alto Bío Bío, the people still live without electricity and have always lived without any support from the Chilean State, so I think it must be quite hard to accept these kinds of arguments. In the same time, Chile is letting a minority in Chile, like ENDESA, rule the country’s development, for the company’s own profit. This shows clearly that the power of ENDESA is greater than values like democracy. Max-Neef presents a new development model, where human and environmental values must be taken into consideration of in developing projects. In a global perspective, we have started to realise that the resources of the earth are limited. But, it is still seems difficult for a country like Chile to live up to this kind of development thinking in practice, with a high pressure on fast development.
The way of approaching indigenous people have changed rapidly over the last six or so years, with the forming of the CONADI and the Indigenous Act. This probably also has to do with outer influences. Indigenous movements all over the world are getting stronger. There is another view of the national state with a higher grade of acceptance of a multi-ethnical society, unlike the old view where minority groups were ignored. 1993 was the "International Year of Indigenous People" and the same year a Maya woman, Rigoberta Manchu, received the Nobel Peace Award. UN’s International Labour Office (ILO) has formed a convention (no 169) which will guarantee indigenous people the right to land, to their language and to participate in decision making among other things (Cuadra 1995:6-11).
The Ralco project is a complex problem with many actors involved. The different actors are the State with the Government, the Police, CONADI and CONAMA. We also have the volunteers acting in the area. The Mapuche movement all around Chile is in general against the project. Then there is the international community like solidarity, human rights and environmental groups opposing the project. The organization most famous for fighting the project in Alto Bío Bío, is the Chilean NGO GABB, founded by ecologists. And, of course, there is the Pehuenche people and the powerful energy company ENDESA.
The different actors involved fight for different purposes. I have already discussed the fact that ENDESA’s motivation is money and profit and the opposing families are acting as they are, because of pure survival or by pressure. The Pehuenches have the Ley Indígena to support them, but ENDESA claims that they can prove in court that another act, Ley Energética is superior the former. Why they have not done this, one might wonder. There are also other actors involved, like intellectuals, politicians, entrepreneurs etc. In general, one can say that those who, in any way, get some kind of compensation from the Ralco project are in favour of it, and the others are against. Those latter, for example GABB and the Mapuche organizations, are marginalised from the political sector, in other words, with little power to stop the project.
The Mapuche organizations (over a hundred in number) all over Chile, are in general against the project. The problem today is that they are not co-operating with each other, they lack economical and moral support from the State and they are extremely busy with so many other problems besides the problems with their brothers and sisters in Alto Bío Bío. They are, for example, dealing with problems with forest companies, the land issue and the education system to mention a few.
There are several foreign indigenous groups in Europe and America sympathising with the people in Alto Bío Bío. They make protests in forms of letters to Chilean authorities or sending clothes to poor Mapuche areas. There are also environmental and human right’s organizations involved in the problem. For example, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation co-operates closely with GABB.
There are also volunteer organizations supporting the Pehuenches. Students, unemployed people and foreigners come to Alto Bío Bío to stay there for some time, supporting the Pehuenches morally and in their daily work. The good side about the volunteers are their engagement without monetary interests, but too many visitors in the area can also disturb the peace and make the inhabitants insecure. It is sometimes hard to know what brings a person to Alto Bío Bío, since it attracts a variety of people. I met both rafters, freedom fighters and the secret police.
GABB, Grupo de Accíon por el Bío Bío, is the NGO (non-governmental organization) that has been distinguished and world-famous through their struggle against the Ralco project. This NGO was formed in 1990 by some ecologists, who started fight for the unique ecosystem in the area. When you visit Alto Bío Bío, you do not question this. It is the most beautiful place on earth. One can see mountains covered with trees and on the top the characteristic shapes of the pine tree pehuen take form, which have given the Pehuenches their name. There are seven snow-covered volcanoes and through all the landscape winds the powerful river Bío Bío, which gives life and strength to the people living here and who have been living here for ages. The eco-system of Bío Bío has its own fauna and flora and the Ralco project threatens many of the species unique for the area, for example, the puma, the national bird the Condor, useful medicine plants and the auracaria pine to mention a few.
GABB made the world wake up when, in 1998, their general co-ordinator, Juan Pablo Orrego, received the Alternative Nobel Award because of his struggle to stop the exploitation of the Bío Bío river and for illuminating the debate about a sustainable development in the Chilean society. The latest years the Bío Bío River has attracted many tourists, mainly rafters, since this river is considered the best one in the world for this kind of activity. This is also a source of income Chile will lose in a couple of years if the project goes on.
GABB has presented some alternatives to the Ralco project, which would be less costly, both economically, socially and environmentally. The Chilean Department of Energy (CNE), for example, has recommended Ralco not to be built, saying that Chile does not need the energy. The alternatives would be thermal generating stations powered by natural gas piped from Argentina via one or two new pipelines, and a number of smaller hydroelectric projects. According to CNE, Ralco would provide energy far in excess of what Chile will need and to an unacceptable high social and environmental cost (ICE). Unfortunately private companies do not have to follow CNE’s recommendations because of financial and commercial reasons.
5.2.3 The State, Chile and neo-liberialism
Since the military coup in 1973, Chile has applied an economical model with free market with focus on privatisation of public enterprises and an exporting model of the nature resources. This neo-liberal model obliges the country to satisfy an increasing demand for energy (the annual increase is 7%). Today Chile is investing above all in hydroelectricity (World Watch, Miljötidningen). During manifestations against Ralco one can hear the slogan "Frei, ENDESA – la misma empresa" (the same company). The president Frei has done statements to show his standpoint. In the newspaper La Época (29/8 1996) he says that "development must not be impeded by the environmental theme" and during the opening of Pangue, a Government representative stated that "development mustn’t stop, just because some indigenous oppose" (GABB).
When there are manifestations against the project in the area, the Police are always present. During the time I spent in Alto Bío Bío, there was a peaceful demonstration march. Afterwards, one could read in the papers about violent demonstrators attacking ENDESA’s vehicles, which was not true. This is a common way to influence the public opinion. Mapuches are described as warriors in the media and also in the history books. Mapuches that I spoke to claimed that this too is a form of discrimination. They are described as brave warriors in the history books, but they consider themselves the most pacifist people on the earth. They do not trust the Government, which in their opinion, has opened the door for the big companies that always come in first place and give low priority to the Mapuches’ problems. The Indigenous Act is not being followed and that shows that the democracy is not working.
When CONADI made an evaluation of the Ralco project, they drew the conclusion that the Pehuenches’ transfer to other land would be the same thing as ethnocidium, extermination of an ethnic group. Ethnocidium is a serious accusation. The result of this statement was that the present head of CONADI was fired. Since 1997, two presidents of CONADI and one of CONAMA have been fired, because of their standpoint against the Ralco project. CONADI is supposed to consist of 50% Chilean and 50% indigenous. Today, the Government has appointed a Chilean as president of CONADI, which means that the Chilean representation is in majority. This representation system is not always working. When CONADI held a meeting the 15th of January 1999, in order to analyse the land exchanges of the Pehuenches in Alto Bío Bío, not a single indigenous adviser was present (Open letter to the president of Chile, 3rd of March 1999). This shows that the institutions that are supposed to support the indigenous people in the Chilean Society not are working sufficiently.
6. What has happened in the area?
In Alto Bío Bío, two cultures have met, the Chilean and the Mapuche-Pehuenche, which have different values and thinking, different relation to nature and speak different languages. The intruders have introduced a different standard of living to the inhabitants of Alto Bío Bío. ENDESA wants them to move from their ancestors’ land, which will be inundated with the gigantic dam project. This meeting has led to a division amongst the Pehuenches and brought about pressure, stress and alcoholism to mention a few. New roads to the area have made it easier for outsiders to come to the area. Its richness and beauty has attracted ecologists, tourist, anthropologist and volunteers. They come in various interests.
Throughout history, this is nothing new. The Mapuches have fought the longest war in times against intruders on their land. 300 years they fought to defend their land against the Spaniards and the Chileans. They were defeated in the end of the 19th century, but after that, they have been going on defending what is theirs, their land and their culture. The Pehuenches in Alto Bío Bío have been living relatively isolated, but all of sudden, they are in the interest of the State and a huge energy company. Over time they have also become in the interest of ecologists, anthropologists, indigenous organizations all over Chile and all over the world.
The Mapuches have populated the territory of Alto Bío Bío for ages. They were originally a nomadic people and made trading with the Pehuenches on the Argentinean side of the border. The first plans to build dams here arose during the Pinochet era (1973-80). At this stage the world was boycotting Chile and the World Bank only approved loans to private companies. Therefor, Pinochet changed the power company ENDESA into a private company, owned by the Military (in other words himself). The project received great support later on from the World Bank, and also from the Swedish Board for Investment and Technical Support (BITS) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). When ENDESA came to the area to build the first dam, Pangue, the Pehuenches had lived relatively isolated with almost no contact with the outer world (Miljötidningen, Calbucura 1997).
When Pangue was built, the indigenous people were neither consulted nor informed in a sufficient way. ENDESA just started building in the area, and the information given was that only one dam was to be built in the area. This was not true. When Pangue was ready in 1997, ENDESA started building a new dam. This dam was going to be much bigger than its precursor and all of a sudden there were plans of building five more dams in the Bío Bío River. This was called the Ralco project or Proyecto Ralco. The difference now was that the people in the area had experiences from the first dam. They also had rights, in form of the Ley Indígena from 1993, which says that no indigenous can be transferred from their land without their agreement of moving to another place, adequate to the land they are leaving. This change of land is called permuta. So the ENDESA offered the Pehuenche people, who were going to be directly affected by Ralco, other pieces of land, closer to the city Santa Barbara. At first, all of the Pehuenches were against leaving their ancestral land, but after efficient persuasion from the ENDESA people, more and more families have agreed to sign the contracts. This has led to a division amongst the Pehuenches. ENDESA intends to compensate or "permute" Pehuenche land satisfactory, but this is difficult, especially if there is repugnance against the relocation. Those people would lose their culture and traditional economy; the culture, since the earth means something different to a Pehuenche than to a Chilean and the economy, because of the lost of invernadas. 40% of the invernadas in Quepuca-Ralco and 80% in Ralco Lepoy would inundate respectively (Morales 1998:165-181).
Many problems has arisen, because of the fact that winka concept of life differs a lot from the Pehuenche’s. There are, in the area, language barriers, lack of information, different relations to Nature, differences in customs and values, discrimination to mention a few.
6.1.1 Differences in customs and values
The Western Culture is directed by money. We have a capitalistic way of thinking, which, unfortunately, permits exploitation of our earth. The president of the Mapuche Organization Xeg-Xeg gives us something to think about.
My aim in this work is not to focus on the environmental consequences of the Ralco project. However, I believe, one should not separate Man from Nature, especially in this case, where it is about a people living in such a close relationship with nature. The catastrophic consequences on the nature in Alto Bío Bío are something that would exceedingly affect the Mapuche-Pehuenches. Some people call it an "eco-disaster". The river Bío Bío is considered one of the richest eco-systems on the planet, with its great number of unique species, such as its flora and fauna, now threatened to disappear. A dam project of this size in the area would increase the seismological activity and the risk of erosion. It would also, in an environmental matter, seriously affect the traditional way of living of the Pehuenche comunidades, which essentially live on agriculture and collecting in symbiosis with nature (IRN, World Watch). Since the Ley Indígena also constitutes protection of the environment and preservation of an ecological equilibrium, the CONAMA (Comisión Nacional del Medio Ambiente) and CONADI (Corporación Nacional de Desarollo Indígena) insisted that the Company ENDESA presented evaluation studies on the environmental impacts of the hydro-electric power station Ralco. ENDESA presented both 1995 and 1996 those inquired studies, but those were rejected by CONAMA and CONADI, with regard to the Indigenous Act that is supposed to protect the indigenous land. However, in 1997, a new evaluation was presented by ENDESA, and this time CONAMA approved it with conditions that the company would work for the minimum damages on the environment (FIDH).
The Pehuenche woman Nicolasa says that "we are rich and we don’t want the poverty of the energy company". In our standards of living, the Pehuenches are the poorest of the poorest in Chile. They live practically without money in houses without electricity. How we interpret "richness" and "poverty" is a problem to consider, since ENDESA wants to compensate the Pehuenches in a material way. The women opposing the project, talk about another richness. They are rich, because they have everything they need in Alto Bío Bío. They have the earth to cultivate and to feed the animals, they have water, the river gives fish and the auracarias give piñones. This place was given to them by God and here is where the ancestors rest. All this together, the mountains, the river and the earth, gives them newen, power and strength to live. ENDESA is sure that the opposing families will sign the permutas in the end. One spokesman from ENDESA asked me that "if you had a house, and the Government decided to build a road on your land, they would compensate you with money, and you would accept, wouldn’t you?" "Yes, probably I would, but I am a Winka. For me, money would probably serve as compensation." For Nicolasa, nothing in the world could compensate her home in Ralco Lepoy, where her ancestors have lived and her soul feels at home. She will not leave the area alive.
I also talked to some of the people in favour of the project, which had instead taken advantage of this new situation. They want the new standard of living offered to them by ENDESA in forms of gifts, promises of houses with electricity and work opportunities for the men. Because of the increasing number of non-Mapuches in the area, ENDESA people, volunteers and tourists, they are able to make money of running a kiosk and serving lunch to the workers. Selling of alcohol is illegal in Alto Bío Bío, but since it is highly required, many Pehuenches are making good business by providing people with pulka (liquors in Mapudungun). Those "endesados" put big pressure on their neighbours who are not eager to change their way of living for a life where they are forced to adapt a Chilean pattern of living. When I talked to a family running a kiosk in Quepuca Ralco they said that "you, who come from a developed country must understand that we want electricity. We are going to buy a refrigerator." Those people in favour of the project have seen a chance to live another life. The price is losing their old pattern of life. They have tasted another standard of living and this requires living a Winka life. It is impossible going on living the way they used to do, with the system of veranada and invernada. Where they are about to move, they need to work for money to buy things that will not be available in the new place. According to Morales (1998:133-152) the Mapuche-Pehuenches have not been living poor if you measure quality of life in terms of the protein content of the meat etc. Their quality of life has been considerably higher than the quality of life of Mapuches living in cities, for example. Only if we measure poverty in money, they are living under the level of subsistence.
Now, the people who have signed the permutas see no other alternatives than adapting this new way of life, and who can blame them? The question is how long this will last. When there are no more work opportunities in the area, they will have to move to the cities to find jobs. The Government and ENDESA quickly paid attention to the inhabitants of Alto Bío Bío, when they became in their interest. Who says they will not forget them just as quickly, when they are no longer in their interest? The Pehuenches who have signed the permutas have probably made their choice based on the thought that there is no other alternative. If they are not co-operating now, maybe they will not get anything out of this in the end. The ones opposing accuse ENDESA and the Government for using the fact that the Pehuenches are poor. This is not what can be considered help, when everything that was originally theirs is taken away from them. The ones opposing, what will they get out of this? Probably nothing, but their dignity.
One of the problems involved in the relation between ENDESA and the Pehuenches is the communication barrier. To begin with, the Pehuenches do not speak Spanish as their first language. Secondly, some of them do not speak it at all. When I go through the signed permutas, handed to me by ENDESA in Santiago, the majority of them are signed with a thumbprint, since there is a high rate of illiteracy amongst the Pehuenches. I draw the conclusion therefor, that it must be hard for them to take part of the contents of the written contract. The contracts are also written in a formal language that the people in Alto Bío Bío have not been in contact with before and therefor are not used to. Furthermore, Mapudungun is traditionally a spoken language, transmitted from generation to generation through experts in the art of story telling.
Added to this, the information given to the Pehuenches by the ENDESA has been false. When they built the first dam, Pangue, nobody got the information that there were plans on another dam, this one far more extensive. The Pehuenches have never been consulted during the constructions of the two hydro-electrical power stations. The strategy used by ENDESA is to turn to every affected family individually, and not to the whole comunidad or the Pehuenches as one people, which is opposed to how the Pehuenches normally take decisions.
The first day I came to Alto Bío Bío I had to hitchhike, which is the easiest way of transfer in the area. It turned out I was travelling with one of the ENDESA bosses. I was for him a "gringa tourist" going up to see the beautiful nature. He was a real gentleman, invited me to some lunch and wine. Then he started excusing for the area, where there were only "you know, Pehuenches". He said this with a whispering tone of voice like if he was talking about some strange animals. "But" he concluded, "at least the women are beautiful."
The Mapuches are discriminated both socially-economically and culturally in the Chilean society, where the racism is deeply rooted and constitutes a part of the Conservative Party’s ideology. It is something woven into the Chilean culture and has its origin way back. During the Chilean liberation fight against the Spaniards in the early 19th century, the Mapuches sometimes allied with the Spaniards. Therefor, they are historically considered traitors towards the Chilean State. All through history, the State and the Church have carried on strategies to assimilate the Mapuches into the Chilean society. This culminated in the Pinochet era, when no indigenous people were allowed to exist. Everybody should be a Chilean. Through times with withdrawal of land and assimilation projects, the Mapuches today belong to the lowest class in the extremely class-dominated Chilean society. They have difficulties getting jobs, education and are less paid than their Chilean colleagues. Even if they are allowed today to take part in decision-making, they cannot do it their way. They have to take part in a foreign system, which they in real life are not a part of. Mapuches and Chileans live with a huge distance between them. When mega-projects like dam building in Alto Bío Bío, deforestation or road constructions, are at stake, the rights of the Mapuches always come second place. Accordingly, we cannot say that the development and modernisation projects the latest years have been successful in order to diminish the social gaps and invite marginalised groups to take part in the forming of a better society for all its members. Mapuches who move to the cities soon forget their culture in order to be able to get a place in the society. They have to adopt the Chilean system. It is not an uncommon phenomenon to change a Mapuche name into a Chilean, and avoid passing on Mapudungun to the children, in order to get a chance to climb the social latter (Cuadra 1995, interview with Calbucura).
When the Fundación Pehuen was introduced in Alto Bío Bío, all the men in the area were offered jobs for ENDESA. Many accepted this offer, since most of them did not have any income at all. The work conditions are hard, dangerous and not bound to contracts. The Pehuenche worker owns less money than his Chilean colleague, and can easily be replaced by someone from outside. Once used to wages, it is hard to face unemployment. These extremely poor people need an income, and when for the first time in history someone gives them work opportunities, it is offered to them by ENDESA. The people want and need the creation of work opportunities in the area, but they want the help from the authorities, whom they feel have forgotten them. ENDESA has supported development project for the Pehuenches, but the company is not giving without expecting something back. For them, the investment in indigenous project (US$ 20 millions) is not a heavy cost at all, considering that the Ralco project is estimated to start giving a profit from the year 2002 and afterwards (interview with ENDESA). To choose between working for ENDESA and working in the closest city, the choice is easy. When someone works for the former, he can come home and see his family at least once a week, but in the city, he maybe sees them once a month. Once, employed by ENDESA, a person is not allowed to take part in meetings held by the comunidad, and therefor, easily misses important information about his rights, for example. He also gets benefits from the company, which makes it easy for ENDESA to persuade people to sign the permutas. The Pehuenches are quickly forced into a new system of working for wages, which replaces part of the traditional form of working in collective forms.
Roberto Morales U. of the Universidad de Frontera, Temucu, points out some of the consequences of the Pehuenches working for ENDESA:
(Morales 1998:162-181)Working for wages replaces the traditional occupation. There is no time for silviculture, agriculture or animal breeding. Working for wages also results in an acculturation process. The worker comes into contact with people who speak in Spanish and have different values. They also have to suffer discrimination. The working conditions require shift work 330 days a year, which does not allow the worker to participate in nguillatúns. The trainees have to move to the cities, which results in depopulation of the comunidades.
6.1 7 Relocation of the comunidades
ENDESA has presented or offered the affected comunidades three places of relocation. The Mapuche-Pehuenche families in Quepuca Ralco and Ralco Lepoy can "permute" their land to live in one of the following estates or fundos; Fundo "El Barko", Fundo "El Huachi" or Fundo "Santa Laura". Those places cannot be considered sufficient replacement for the old land, in order to live the way the Pehuenches lived before. Their life would change radically, because of many different facts. I will present of few of them in the following part.
The Fundo "El Barko" for one thing, is situated 900 m over the sea level. This means that the people, who moves here is not going to be able to race animals or collect food in the same way as before. Their economy is traditionally based on the veranada-invernada system, which means a movement between different altitudes. Now they will have to be permanent on one place, which is too high up for the invernada activities. It will be impossible to race animals, because the ground will be covered by snow half the year. The houses built in the estate are not designed to resist this amount of snow. ENDESA claims that the Pehuenches were participating building the new houses. Maybe they were participating when it comes to labour, but they cannot have been consulted about the technique, since those houses will endure six to seven years and the Pehuenches surely have the know-how when it comes to house constructing in this area. The second place proposed by ENDESA, "El Huachi", is lowest situated of the three estates, but does not offer possibilities of collecting piñones or fire wood, which therefor has to be bought. Finally, the estate "Santa Laura" is situated outside Alto Bío Bío, closer to the city Los Angeles. A transfer to this place would probably mean cutting off the ethnic bonds and adopt a whole new way of agriculture and life pattern (FIDH, interviews with CONADI and ENDESA).
A transfer to any of those three alternatives would imply a radical change in their traditional way of life. If the new place is not sufficient to provide the families with opportunities to grow the same plants, collect wood or piñones, raise cattle etc., they must probably buy some of the things needed. Consequently, they must earn money and they are forced into a new system, the capitalistic. ENDESA can offer some of the Pehuenche men jobs at the present, but what happens when they are not needed any more? They will have to move into cities to find jobs. All Mapuches would agree that the culture disappears in an urban environment, because without the earth, they cannot longer be Mapuches and they forget the language. The relation to the earth is essential to the Mapuche-Pehuenches. If they move to those new places, they will lose the bonds to the ancestral land, the family bonds will dissolve because of long distances, they will lose sacred places like the graveyards and the places for nguillatúnes. On top of this, they do not yet know if the new places are covered by the Indigenous Act or if they will be forced to move again in the future. An acculturation process is likely to begin.
One of the effects of jobs with wages, is the increasing problem with alcoholism. The men use their wages on the bars, which are illegal in Alto Bío Bío, but hard to control. Introducing alcohol to a people, is also an old strategy, used by conquerors in order to make a people passive.
One woman tells me she is worried about the modern disease called stress. The people of Alto Bío Bío now live under a constant pressure. People who have lived in harmony now fear the neighbours, the ENDESA people and foreigners, who come to their homes in various businesses.
Divide and role is an old strategy used in wars. Out of 91 families ENDESA, supported by the state, has succeeded to persuade 84 families to exchange their land into other. Still there are seven families who refuse to and reject the enormous pressure from ENDESA. If seven families seem few, it is important to point out the impressive power of the women’s group, Mapu Dumoche Newen, led by the sisters Nicolasa and Berta Quintremán in Ralco Lepoy. According to the Ley Indígena, if there are only one person who does not agree to move from her ground, it is enough for stopping the project, in theory, that will say. In practice ENDESA are working hard in the area, day and night. "Nine years they have come here, the ENDESA people, to convince me to move." says one of the women opposing the project. Those families are living under an enormous pressure. I saw them hiding in their house as soon as a car approached their home. They constantly have to listen to the noise of the trucks of ENDESA, day and night coming and leaving the area. They are living in permanent fear of people coming to fool them to sign contracts. There are cases where people, illiterates, have signed contracts when they for example have been to the Winka doctor to take blood samples. But the leader woman, Nicolasa, is not afraid. She is going to defend her land, where the great Cha Chao left her to live. She cannot go against his will. Her sister, Berta, explains that this place, her home, gives her newen, power to live. If she is outside her ancestor’s ground her soul is weakening. "’The one upstairs’ doesn’t want me to move. He sees everything and knows everything. He doesn’t want me to leave my territory." One day we were discussing the existence of the devil. Berta exclaimed, "ENDESA is the devil". In other words, the ones who have "permuted" have sold their soul to the devil.
ENDESA’s presence in Alto Bío Bío has led to a strong division between the Pehuenches who accept the permutas and those who do not. There are also some people in the middle, "the insecure", who do not want to accept the permutas, but still want to benefit from the offers made by ENEDESA. The so-called "endesados" bring pressure to bear upon the ones opposing. This pressure takes different forms. I asked one of the women from the resistance group what had happened to her big pig, which only had one ear. She answered me that it was probably the deed of some neighbour. One woman got her long braid cut off, when she was travelling with the bus. This kind of hostility did not exist in Alto Bío Bío before the arrival of the ENDESA. ENDESA’s presence in the area has led to broken social, co-operative, religious, cultural and economical bonds, since families and comunidades have become divided.
6.2.1 The people opposing the project
ENDESA must not have counted with the strong resistant movement, Mapu Dumoche Newen (women’s group of power/force) that was formed by the women in Alto Bío Bío, mostly single women and widows. From the beginning there were almost 30 members of the group, but now some of them have been persuaded to sign the permutas and today the number of women has gone down to twelve. They have the support from the Mapuche movement in Chile, solidarity and human right’s organizations, student and environmental movements and volunteers. They live every day under a big pressure from the ENDESA and also from their neighbours who want them to sign the contracts. The company has no doubt that those people (the majority are women) will come to an agreement with ENDESA and sign the contracts. But las ñañas, Nicolasa and Berta, will never leave their ancestors’ land. They cannot. And ENDESA is not going to stop building the dam.
The people who have decided not to sign the contracts oppose by the following reasons: They were born and raised in Alto Bío Bío, the land of their ancestors, and they were left here by God, Cha Chao. They believe that if they move to El Barko, they and their animals will starve, because they will not be able to cultivate the earth and resist the snow. They do not want to give up their richness, their graveyards and the earth, which is considered their mother and father. The project will affect the whole comunidad, not only the ones closest affected. There is already a division because of different standpoints towards the project. Families will also be dispersed to live far away from each other. The traditions, the nguillatún and the culture would fall into oblivion. They do not want the ENDESA people’s presence in the area, which disturbs the peace and whose activities are illegal. They are also worried about ENDESA’s way of use the fact that those people live in poverty and that the Government does not care about the Pehuenches but agree with ENDESA’s project. The Government or CONADI have never done any effort earlier to try to create work opportunities or build roads in the area. This shows that ENDESA is not the only problem for the people in Alto Bío Bío, the Government is not interested in them. It is the invernadas that permit the Pehuenches to live, and the new places lack invernadas. They do not want to see their cemeteries inundated, because the dead cannot protest and those are sacred places for the Pehuenches, which cannot be moved. They also want the Government and CONADI to listen to them and respect them.
The Pehuenches’ worries about the construction of hydro-electrical power plants on their land have been expressed in various public declarations. In a letter to CONAMA dated 7th of June 1996, residents of Quepuca Ralco and Ralco Lepoy, manifest their opposition against the central Ralco, for the following reasons:
6.2.2 So why is it that so many people have agreed to the permutas?Because the project affects the whole comunidad, not only the ones directly affected by the inundation, works and roads. This, because la comunidad would be divided, because it affects our traditions, and because it would bring a lot of people from outside who would influence our life and culture negatively, and also discriminate the Mapuches. The project inundates our antique cemeteries. We do not want to abandon our territories because we have lived here forever, we are used to live and know how to survive here, we have lived our life for generations and are content as we are, even if we sometimes need help. We do not trust ENDESA and their promises, because they are the same as we were given in Pangue. The areas of invernada that we have are the only possible in Alto Bío Bío, since the areas of the estate are veranadas and do not serve for the Pehuenche life. The work offers are not what la comunidad needs, because they do not serve for the maintenance of our culture. There is no possible compensation for our culture. What we have is not comparable with what we are offered and with the richness that the project takes away from us.
The people from ENDESA brought gifts to the Pehuenches, pots, stoves, beds, food and so on. They formed the Fundación Pehuen during the construction of Pangue, a foundation designed to compensate the people affected. From the beginning the people had hardly been in contact with Chilean people or Winkas. ENDESA did not give people the right information and started building in the area without questioning the people. The Pehuenches did not know that there were any alternatives.
From the beginning, I think that most of the people living here were not aware of any other possibility. Government people came to the area for the first time ever and exclaimed that; "you have to move. We are building a dam". ENDESA’s strategy, in this matter, has been to turn to every family affected individually, and not to consult the Pehuenches as one people. They were offered other land, more land (but not necessarily better). All the men were offered jobs at the ENDESA, which resulted in a change from living by agriculture and raising cattle to a Winka way of life with working for wages. Their standards were getting higher. Through the Fundación Pehuen, schools were built in the area. There are also cases where people have been fooled to sign contracts. Many people are illiterate and have had problems taking part of the information given to them in forms of meetings, where a formal Spanish language has been used. When I talk to the people in favour of the project, they want the higher standard, and they cannot understand how I, who come from the developed part of the world, am not agreeing with what ENDESA is doing in the area. They want electricity, they are making money by selling food and pulka (liquors) to the ENDESA workers and volunteers and they want the families who refuse to come to senses and sign the permutas. The people have been offered two alternatives for the permutas – to live closer to the cities or to move closer to the Argentinean boarder. ENDESA has been using the fact that the people are poor. Promises of a higher standard of living have changed many people’s opinions to accept the permutas.
I think that the mechanisms behind the actions of the people who agree to the permutas are based in a fatalistic thinking among the Mapuche-Pehuenches. Even if they have to give up parts of their culture, they also understand that this is the only way to survive. They have to sacrifice some parts of their former way of life and adopt a new one. They do this, because they do not see any other alternatives and probably they are right, because in the larger society that they are a part of, the Chilean society, which they now abruptly have come in contact with, a capitalistic way of thinking rules. The ENDESA are extremely powerful and have the support of the Government, so they can and will go on with the project. If the Pehuenche people do not co-operate, they will probably stand with nothing in the end. They have been introduced to a new way of living, with wages, commercialism etc., and they adopt it. Now they actually want the electricity, the money, the refrigerator, the television, the new standard etc. They also want the other Pehuenches to sign the permutas, otherwise this development is being impeded. From this point of view, ENDESA has succeeded with their mission to convert the people, to be able to go on with the project. They have succeeded, because they have got the people to actually want this change.
6.2.3 Mechanisms behind the actions
Still, I would call this a "cultural rape". I cannot call this meeting of cultures a natural change of constantly developing cultures, where flows and streams travel and land or do not land. My aim by using the theories by Barth and Hannertz was to try to find elements in the Pehuenche culture which could explain why there are so many people accepting to change their life and quickly adopt a new way of life, very different from their traditional. Unfortunately, the only explanation that ultimately comes to my mind, is the fact that those people live in poverty and need help, and it cannot be explained in a way that some of the parts of the Winka culture are compatible with Pehuenche culture. They desperately accept this "help" coming to them from ENDESA, because it is the first time in history they receive help from the outside. They do not know when they will receive help again.
The Chilean society is extremely racist and divided in classes. The Mapuches have always been discriminated in Chilean society. It is just in the last six or so years that there have been improvements for the indigenous in Chile and not many years ago, during the dictatorship, the Mapuches as an ethnic group were not even allowed to exist. The Mapuche-Pehuenches also belong to the poorest of the poorest in the society. The ENDESA people have taken advantage of this. They offer the people a new way of standard, which is really needed. All the Pehuenches can agree on that they need the Government to help them. They need cloths, cooking tools, greenhouses and schools in the area. All of a sudden they are getting some help, but only because ENDESA wants to earn money. The Pehuenches have suddenly become of economic interest of the Government and ENDESA. What they are investing in the indigenous people is nothing compared what they are gaining on this project. Chile is gaining electricity and money in a short perspective, but losing a unique eco-system and an important cultural richness in a large perspective, all in the name of development. Is not the cost too high? I cannot see this as a natural cultural change for the Pehuenches, when the influences come in form of a culture, which forces itself over another with no other alternatives but to adopt it or go under. This change did not come from the Pehuenches themselves.
Friedman’s theory shows that different changes in economy lead to different view of the individual self. Either the person totally accept the new situation and reject everything that has to do with his origin or the person go back to find his roots and creates a "new" culture by redefining his old culture. I try to find those specific reactions in this case where a society abruptly comes in contact with the modern world. The people who have accepted the change want to leave the old life and start anew. They are not totally rejecting their origin, but over time they will surely loose it, because they are not participating in their own development. With this acceptance of a new standard of living, the Mapuche culture cannot survive with all its components intact. If some important components disappear, the whole cannot exist any longer. The others, the opponents of this change, are prepared to die for what is their way of life. All of a sudden it has come clear that the own culture is threatened and it is important to elevate all the specific parts of it and defend them.
All over Chile one can see those different reactions to the modern Chilean society among the Mapuche people. The ones, who have been forced to move to the cities, soon forget their origin and are forced to assimilate totally to the "big society". In the same time, the Mapuche movement in Chile is growing stronger and is in a need to define their culture. They are slowly gaining ground, because of a new thinking within the nation state to accept indigenous people to a higher grade (page 21).
ENDESA is not going to stop the Ralco project. It is too big and today no one has the authority to stop it. Today, only a small part of the dam is finished, so theoretically, there is a small chance the project could be stopped. But, according to ENDESA, in only two years or so, almost 40% of the dam will be finished. It is then too late and too expensive to stop the dam building. It is also then a fact that a great part of land will be inundated, the most beautiful place on earth put under water; houses, roads, pastures, schools, graveyards etc. And what about the people?
When I talk to the women in Alto Bío Bío, I know they will never give up. They cannot give up. What will happen to them is hard to say. Probably the Police will come, force them away and put them into prison This kind of ethnical resistance will probably be transformed into a symbol for the Mapuche movement, in their ongoing struggle for their rights as an ethnic group. And the people who has accepted the change and "permuted" their land? It is hard to say if they will get a better life or not. Will they turn the back completely at their traditions or just adapt a part of the new life style?
If the project would have to stop, what would then happen? Should the people continue being divided? Should the Pehuenches be "punished" by the Government through oblivion? There will in the future always be cultural meetings, influences, streams and flows that will transfer the Mapuche culture, but hopefully these transformations will not come in a forcing way but from the Mapuches themselves.
Ethnicity is a technical term, which is used to point out that a group of people feel connected because they share the same origin, language, production systems, symbols, social and political structure and that they define themselves different from "the others" (Morales 1998:135). In this case the Pehuenches form one ethnic group, which are also part of the Mapuches, in a larger sense. The Earth is an important factor in the forming of the cultural identity. "The others", in this case are the Chileans or the Winkas.
CONADI and the University Frontera in Temuco, among others, have accused ENDESA of ethnocidium, extermination of an ethnic group. The following is CONADI’s evaluation of the Ralco project:
(Calbucura 1998)
9. ConclusionThe concept of life – An important eco-system is facing its end, if the Ralco project goes on. The Pehuenches have always lived in a close relationship with Nature and have great knowledge about it. There are unique species threatened to disappear, among other things, important medicine plants, which use will fall in oblivion. To the new places where they are about to move, they cannot live any longer only from what the earth gives them. They are forced into another way of life, which commercialism and working for wages are parts of, and an acculturation process is accelerating. This new way of life also contains another relation to other living things and the earth, which means using the resources without limits. Religious life - The Ralco project would seriously affect the religious life. The traditional places for nguillatúnes will disappear. The people in favour of the project will probably work for ENDESA as long as the company can offer works in the area. This will result in that people will not be able to take a day off to attend a ceremony. When the old way of agriculture disappears, they will have to adopt a new way of agriculture not compatible with the Mapuche cosmic view where every living part on earth is equal. The families opposing to the relocation believe that moving from their present homes, is against the will of God, and therefor impossible. Organisation – The Mapuche way of organising, hierarchy and decision making has already been damaged because of the division between and within families. The family bonds have broken, which affect a great number of Mapuche families, not only the families most closely affected by the project. Also the bonds to the ancestors are threatened to break, since, according to the opposing people, leaving their land in Alto Bío Bío is going against the will of the ancestors. ENDESA people are not respecting the Pehuenche collective way of taking decisions, but have won great success in persuading people to sign contracts, by turning to them as individuals and not to the people as a whole. To be able to participate in future development projects, the Pehuenches probably have to adopt a Chilean way to make decisions. The land issue – The Mapuches say that without land we are not Mapuches. They are offered new land, but this is not Mapuche land. The land they are leaving is permeated by newen and the force from their passed away ancestors. The Pehuenches of Alto Bío Bío are clearly aware of their legal rights, but how can they be sure that they can stay on the new lands. This case shows that the Indigenous Act cannot protect them, when there is big money involved. If the work opportunities cease after a while on the new place, people will have to move to big cities to try to find jobs. History shows us that the Mapuche culture cannot survive an urban climate. The lost of the Bío Bío river is also a lost of an historical landmark. The river draws the upper line for the Mapuche land that was received after the agreements with the Spaniards in the 17th century. Economy – The Mapuche-Pehuenches will no longer be able to use their traditional system of veranada/invernada when they move to the new places. Neither will they be able to breed animals like they used to. Piñones, which constitutes the base in Pehuenche food, will no longer be available. Also some of their basic goods, for example, firewood on some places, will be hard to find which means they have to take jobs with wages. In other words, they are very quickly forced into a system of working for money and market economy and this means an acceleration of the acculturation process. The language – This part of the culture is something that has survived before among Mapuche people even in times of severe national assimilation projects. I believe the mapudungun will be the surviving part of what was their traditional way of life. But, if the Pehuenches in the future have to migrate into cities, history shows us that Mapudungun has hard time surviving. Already, in their contact with ENDESA all meetings and information are in a formal Spanish language, so you have to learn Spanish to be able to participate in future development, no matter if you are for or against the project.
By focusing on this specific development project, Ralco, there are some effects on the Pehuenches, that one can clearly assert. They have abruptly come into contact with a different culture, and this results in a division among the Pehuenches.
In Alto Bío Bío an abrupt meeting between to cultures has taken place, a meeting between the Winka and the Pehuenche culture, different in thinking, values and customs. The Pehuenches are quickly forced into a new situation, which has vast consequences on their way of living. This meeting is not what I would call a natural transformation of cultures, where flows and streams travel. It is not a mutual exchange of cultural influences. I would rather call it a "cultural rape", where the intruding culture forces itself over the other with no other alternatives but to accept it or go under.
This results in a division that I, according to Friedman, would call a "third" and "forth world movement" respectively; those who accept the relocation and those who oppose. The former, who have accepted the "permutas" have in the same time accepted a Winka way a life. One can already see a speeding acculturation process. It is a little difficult to judge if this is bad development or not for those people, since they state today that they actually want this change. They have chosen a higher standard of living by signing the contracts, because they see no other alternatives. There are also some people who are insecure what is the right thing to do, but they too have signed the contracts. According to them, by co-operating with ENDESA, they will at least get something out of this. I consider this as a question of survival.
The ones opposing will and cannot give up. They defend what is theirs. According to them, Alto Bío Bío was given to them by God and it is up to him to decide what will happen. They say that they will not leave their homes alive, if the project goes on, which it most certainly will.
I personally take exception to the Ralco project, which I consider is a huge mistake. It is too big to be considered controllable and therefor not defensible. It will destroy a unique eco-system, in which the Pehuenches form a part of. It will surely lead to ethnocidium, where the Pehuenche culture will be but a memory.This change did not come from the Pehuenches themselves. The Ralco project will only make a rich company richer.
I was tempted to try to find a solution to this problem, but it seems impossible, since all actors involved have different motivations for their actions and the project Ralco has developed to an extremely complex situation. In a larger perspective, though, I hope that we will start update our development models, so that we take exception to uncontrollable, short-turn mega-projects in the future and come up with solutions where human and environmental issues come in first place.
When it comes to the Ralco project, I believe there is no turning back. In the future, hopefully, we will learn from this mistake. I also believe that the resistance movement in Alto Bío Bío, will be transformed into a symbol for the struggle for the rights of the Mapuche people in Chile and hopefully put a stop to this kind of development projects in the future.
If you want more information about the Mapuche culture and life situation, visit the Page for
Mapuche Information on Internet:
http://linux.soc.uu.se/mapuche
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1993 Stockholm
Valenzuela, Rodrigo Las
hidroeléctricas de río Biobío y el futuro del pueblo
Pehuenche de
1994 Chile, Mideplan,
Santiago
World Watch Mega embalses:
El costo de producir energía and A propósito del conflicto
Ralco: Un modelo sustentable de política energética, articles
in no 1/99
Interviews:
Jorge Calbucura, Institution of Sociology, Uppsala University, November 1998
Rodrigo Valenzuela, Anthropologist, Mideplan, Santiago March 1999
Beatrice Painqueo, CONADI, Santiago March 1999
Fransisco Quaquilpán, President of Xeg-Xeg (Tren-Tren), Temuco March 1999
Manfred Max-Neef, Economist, Head of University Austral de Chile, Valdívia April 1999
Gonzalo Figueroa, Anthropologist, ENDESA, Santiago May 1999
Written and spoken information:
Pehuenche families in Alto Bío Bío, Grupo de Acción por el Alto Bío Bío, Universidad Academía de Humanismo Cristano (Santiago), Universidad ARCIS (Santiago), Universidad de la Frontera (Temuco), Universidad Catolica (Temuco), Universidad de Concepción, CONADI (Santiago), ENDESA S.A. (Santiago)