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Abstract: This article explores the relationship between the life history narratives of Mapuche women elders and the theme of protest, making three central points. First, these narratives can contribute to understanding Mapuche protest against ongoing colonialism. Second, highlighting these stories is itself a protest against the absence of women elders' voices in most narrations of the collective struggle, as well as in academic theorizing about indigenous movements and decoloniality. And third, in the narratives, the women express protest against the portrayal of indigenous women as mere victims, instead projecting themselves as survivors and creators, whose knowledge is essential to envisioning decolonized futures for all. Keywords: Mapuche, indigenous women, elders, decolonization, violence, survivance
Several years have passed since the cold, rainy weekend when we first met with Doña Emiliana, an elder who was an important source of cultural and spiritual memory for her small Mapuche community in southern Chile. It was around the time of We Tripantu, the winter solstice, and in the preceding days, the community had celebrated the naming of their new lonko (leader). Doña Emiliana talked about her history and that of her community. She recalled her mother's strength and rebellion in the face of government officials who appropriated her family's land when she was a child. "The ancestors leftus with a good memory," she reflected. "They leftus to fight for our own rights."1 Later, we talked with Doña Luisa, an elder from another community, about Emiliana's observations. Luisa spoke of Mapuche women's knowledge, collective memory, and strength in the face of adversity, concluding: "We women have so much history." Such conversations are suggestive of the role women elders have played in maintaining memory of past struggles and contributing to collective resistance. And yet, as Luisa's adult daughter Malen observed, this is a hidden history, yet to be told.
In this article, we draw from collaborative life history interviews with Mapuche women elders, exploring multiple ways their narratives link to the theme of protest. We initiated this project out of interest in how highlighting the knowledge of these women may contribute to collective Mapuche protest against ongoing colonialism and the envisioning of decolonized futures. In addition, the telling of these stories itself can be understood as protest against both the narrations of...