CHUBUT RIVER, Argentina — “The waters of this territory converge in the Río Chubut,” began the refrain of a caravan traveling across Argentina’s Patagonia region in the budding first weeks of February. “And like the waters, so too will our voices flow together to be heard.” The group, made up of Indigenous Mapuche leaders, activists and anthropologists, journeyed along the 847 kilometers (526 miles) of the Chubut River. At each stop along the way, from the Andes to the Atlantic, they held meetings in Mapuche communities. They gathered voices, notes, exhortations and experiences — compiling them to understand what was happening to this river flowing through so many lives. This trawün — “parliament” or “gathering for discussion” in the Mapuzungún language — addressed how to understand the watershed as a single entity, and how to work together to steward the river and the territory it feeds. Nothing like this had ever been done before. Along the river, distances are large, telecommunications are limited, and these types of discussions are slow. But the value of a trawün is unequivocal, say elders. “The way we do this is by looking each other in the eye,” said elder María Luisa Huincaleo. “If we have to travel, we have to travel, but we make decisions as a people like this, in trawünes, not over the telephone.” Caravan participants and local community members in discussion during the trawün. Image by Denali DeGraf. Caravan participants and local community members in discussion during the trawün. Image by…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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