This project will carry out a participatory documentation of Lafkenche Mapuche (people of the sea) foodways: the material, knowledge, skills and practices that sustain their water-based livelihoods, located in Teodoro Schmidt, a district of the coastal area of the Araucania Region in southern Chile. The Lafkenche people draw on extensive material knowledge to harvest food and material resources from the sea, rivers, estuaries, and forests. Lafkenmapu (land of the sea) lies between the sea and an intercoastal mountain range, creating an attractive and water-rich ecosystem mostly held by private landowners and threatened by extractive industries. This project has two goals: to collaboratively map their foodways around the sea, river, and seasonal estuaries and to document basketry as it is used to gather foods. Public outcomes include six documentary shorts on foodways and basketry and an interactive map along with archival material. The collaborative aspect of this project engages community members in photography and knowledge production and records will be returned to a local Lafkenche organization. By cataloguing their foodways, Lafkenche in Teodoro Schmidt may lay claim to coastal management, ensuring their role in protecting their part of the land of the sea.
PI:
Cari Tusing
Collaborator:
Hermo Antilef
Location of Research:
Teodoro Schmidt District, Chile.
Host Institution:
Austral University of Chile
