Blog #6

In Chile, there is a struggle from the Mapuche group to their territory rights. The Mapuche individuals are the largest indigenous ethnic group to inhabit Chile, while still a minority. From their ancestries, the current family members are trying to preserve their ethnicity, language, but most importantly their ancestral land. The government has begun to take over land and use it as their own without permission and has forced families away from their previous homes. This land was crucial to a family because they farmed the land and grew what was needed. This is a constant fight for the families to try and get their land back and keep it from getting taken any further. This can be related to the Dakota Access Pipelines because these pipelines were put in place underground, transporting crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The struggle here is that the land that this pipe controls is also were the 'Standing Rock Sioux' has a sacred burial ground. According to this tribe, the federal government didn't not take proper order to obtain this land, rather invaded it, illegally. Individuals here have now began to protest by setting up camps on the constructions sites to sow down and stop work. This is similar to the previous problem because the Mapuche group also did not warrant anyone to take their land, rather people used force, with little consideration to those living there. Both have taken measures to try and stop the government from progressing. In my opinion, this is wrong in both case scenarios because the land was home to several families that have had the land for generations. The land was obtained by the government in the wrong way and left people to go to desperate measures to try and get it back. Much violence from both cases has erupted where it wasn't necessary.