Chile's Indigenous Culture

The Mapuche are an indigenous group located in Chile, specifically in central and south Chile. The people of this group are very connected to earth and what it has to offer. They take advantage of the resources they are able to get from the earth and use them to their advantage. To this day, the Mapuche people must fight for their land in order to preserve their culture. While the government went ahead and took land away from them, they continue to fight for it as well as their independence. My freshmen year of college I studied this indigenous group and found out a lot about them. Viewing these videos was a really good review and refreshment of what I learned about the Mapuche people a few years ago.

While the Dakota Access Pipeline seems like an efficient way to transport barres of oil across states throughout the United States, it comes with many harmful impacts, including some on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, located in North and South Dakota. One effect that this pipeline could potentially have on this land is the contamination of water and damage to burial sites of the Standing Rock Sioux people. Not only does this pipeline propose an impact on the people of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, but it also leads to environmental issues too. This has taken an emotional tole on the people in the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has played a role in the actions they have participated in such as riots and protests, both violent and nonviolent.

The Mapuche tribe and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe have encountered similar issues that were carried out by government officials. They continue to fight for their territory, rights, and culture. The government has done nothing but ignore the rights of these tribes and diminish them. It is very sad to know what these indigenous people go through just to maintain and preserve their their tribe and culture.