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Original article: Documental reconstruye figura del longko José Santos Kilapang a través de la memoria oral de las familias mapuche

Documentary Revives the Legacy of Longko José Santos Kilapang Through Mapuche Oral Histories

«Piam Wenteche: Under the Path of Kilapang» is an in-progress documentary set in the Wenteche territory, notably around Lautaro, Muco Bajo, Calle Brasil, and Perqueco.

Its aim is to reconstruct the legacy of longko José Santos Kilapang through the oral histories of Mapuche families, exploring how his influence persists in the contemporary struggles of his people.

The research focuses on piam, understood as stories passed down through generations, preserving the memory, knowledge, and experiences of ancestors.

Through these familial and community testimonies, the documentary seeks to uncover who Kilapang was, how he is remembered by his descendants, and how his example has inspired various processes of territorial defense and recovery.

The film’s historical journey connects the Mapuche resistance during the occupation of Araucanía, alliances formed between various longko and weichafe, land struggles during the Agrarian Reform, territorial fencing conflicts, resistance against the civic-military dictatorship led by Pinochet and supported by Chilean large landowners, as well as current territorial claims driven by Wenteche communities.

Rather than crafting a conventional biography, the documentary provides a critical examination of how history has been written.

Much of the available knowledge about Kilapang stems from military chronicles, war reports, and documents created from the perspective of the state and armies involved in the occupation of Mapuche territory.

In contrast, the oral narratives preserved by the families and communities that inherited his memory have been scarcely documented.

In this sense, «Piam Wenteche: Under the Path of Kilapang» highlights the value of piam as a legitimate means of constructing historical knowledge, allowing these memories to engage with official history, complement it, and when necessary, challenge it from the experience and memory of the Mapuche people themselves.

In this way, the documentary not only recovers the figure of longko José Santos Kilapang but also advocates for orality as a living archive, where collective memory continues to transmit knowledge, values, and ways of understanding land.

These memories are rooted in a worldview that respects spiritual forces, biodiversity, and reciprocal relationships between people, non-human beings, and the land—principles that continue to guide the ways of life and resistance of the Mapuche people today.

We will continue to provide updates.

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