Mapuche

Origins

The Mapuche remote origins comes from the large Mongolian ethnic group which arrived in America 1000 BC. Later on they would have branched off from the Andean subgroup. Three hypothesis have been formulated about the Mapuche origin:

1. Menghin (1909) proposes an Amazonian origin. Similarities in culture and language with the Amazon peoples suggest a link with a tropical subgroup, which later settled in the Andes.

2. Latchman (1924) proposes that the Mapuche people crossed The Andean mountains from the other side.. As a foreign ethnic group they settled in the zone of the Bio-Bio and Toltén rivers between the Pikunche and Williche people. Due to archaeological findings, especially ceramics, this theory has been discarded: the Mapuche ceramic is a clearly influenced by the Atacameño and Diaguita people, what is confirmed by the Tirúa and Pitren ceramic findings.

3. Guevara (1925) bases on a migration from north to south. There is also archaeological and ethnographical evidence of similarity with the Tiwanaku culture.

Information from beingindigenous.org

 

Mapuche

People

The Mapuche people are the largest indigenous people in Chile.

With a population reaching nearly a half a million people, they still maintain their language, Mapudungun, and large part of their culture, characterized by familiar and religious bonds, which identify them as a real nation.

Before the Inca expansion, the Mapuche people occupied the entire central valley zone. Under the pressure of the Atacameño people from the north, they were partially retreated to the south.

The Mapuche people resisted the Spanish conquest and dominance longer than any other indigenous people in America . Their resistance was based on the defense of their land, or mapu. The people, che, was organized in a fragmentary system stood for the autonomy of their clans and of their social units organized upon their territory and culture.

The lack of a central political authority, due to the fact that power was placed in the hands of local chiefs and wide territorial locations, worked as an obstacle for the Spanish invasion and against the success of the conquest.

Information from beingindigenous.org

 

Dorothea Lange

 

Dorothea Lange

Fotógrafa del pueblo.

Así constaba en su tarjeta de visita.

Aunque se inició estudiando en la CLARENCE WHITE SCHOOL, de marcado carácter pictoralista y posteriormente abrió un estudio en San Francisco, su salida a la calle como reportera marcó definitivamente las que serían las señas de identidad de su trabajo. Su obra más conocida se desarrolla en los años 30, años de la depresión. Una profunda crisis asola el país y miles de campesinos no tuvieron mas remedio que abandonar sus casas en busca de una tierra prometida.

Al igual que Walker Evans, con quien comparte esa mirada concisa y digna, recorre el país trabajando para la Farm Security Administration documentando la precaria situación en la que viven los aparceros. Se convierte así en testigo de esta época, pero a diferencia de Evans, sus personajes ganan en humanidad. Se acerca a ellos de manera casi amorosa, insuflándoles un cierto halo de heroísmo.

Su obra es testimonio de la imagen más trágica de América, testimonio por otro lado lleno de compromiso, convencida de que sus imágenes podían ayudar a cambiar las cosas. Su mirada huye de la sensiblería y de la dramatización, surge de un profundo sentimiento humano y de una conciencia social unida a una lucha incansable por la igualdad de la mujer.

Comentario por Fernando del Río Ojuel

 

Anthropology Studies

If you have read my “About K’Creative” you should know that I want to pursue a Master and PhD in Anthropology. Well, who doesn’t?! I have always been interested in culture, languages, religion and arts. So, how come I never found out before that THIS was what I have been longing to do? Should I blame the school counselor? No, I don’t think so, but still….for a person like myself with former studies and life experience in different fields, all connected to and with the anthropology area…why didn’t I see this before? These are actually just rethorical questions, by the way.

I’m reading and searching through all material I can find about Anthropology and where to study. My problem is that I don’t have a BA in Anthropology but a Bachelor in English Pedagogy, furhermore, I’m not an American citizen, therefore I have no previous knowledge on the requiered GRE (a must for all students, including International ones) and must take that and the TOEFL. My area of interest within Anthropology is the visual subdivision and hopefully, if all the pieces of the puzzle fits, my boyfriend, daughter and I will be moving abroad in a near future. (Sigh!)

Well, if there is anybody out there, willing to share experiences or knowledge about Anthropology grad. studies in general and Photoetnography in particular, please…don’t hesitate to write. I will be most glad for any assistance in this matter.

/ K