04/09/2017 10:00am
When we are about to leave Valparaiso, Jorge says "We would like to give you a gift". He opens a wooden box filled with carved stones. "Those are arrowheads made and used by the ancient tribes of Chile" explains Isme. "A Mapuche shaman gave it to me, telling that they belonged to the Selkhams. Take one each. "
Many peoples used to live in southern Chile before colonisation. Some tribes, like the Kawesqars, lived on canoes, searching food in the sea. Some others, like the Selkhams, were hunters settled in the Tierra del Fuego.
From 1880, British breeders colonized the territory Selkhams to put their sheep. They close the open spaces where men used to hunt. In order not to be disturbed, they called bounty hunters. "The henchmen were paid few pesos for a Selkham's penis. They first had guns, the second where fighting with arcs and arrows, so it was quickly settled." explains Renato. This is how people with ancestral traditions can all be decimate.
I found a solution of appeasement. I am drowning the violence of the past in the violence of the present.
Jean-Christophe Grangé