In 2022, the town of Galvarino, located in Temuco, Araucanía, Chile, erected a school, but not just any traditional Chilean school. Designed by “Correos 3 Arquitectos,” the structure spans approximately 1,409 square meters and was created to reflect traditional Mapuche values. With about 1.7 million people, representing 84% of Chile’s Indigenous population, the Mapuche are the largest Indigenous group in the country.

Cultural Isolation and Domestic Segregation

According to the 2017 Chilean census, Indigenous people compose 12.8% of the Chilean population. Nonetheless, Chilean educational programs ostensibly lack cultural and linguistic diversity, which reinforces a sentiment of Indigenous isolation from Chilean society. For example, the Chilean government does not require public schools to incorporate interculturality into the early curriculum.

Generally, the Indigenous experience is excluded from textbooks and teachers, unversed in interculturality, are left with the discretionary authority to decide how to introduce the issue to classrooms, if at all. According to a 2016 survey by the Center for Public Studies, 67% of Chileans did not speak Mapuzugun, the native Mapuche language. Alarmingly, less than 20% of the Mapuche are fluent in their own native language.

Where It Began: Indigenous Displacement in Southern Chile

The Chilean-Mapuche conflict arose in the 19th century, when the Chilean Army overtook 90% of the Mapuche territory. Forced displacement toward the outskirts of society catalyzed a continuous cycle of Mapuche poverty, unemployment, domestic violence and illiteracy. In 2015, “end-of-mission” U.N. Reporter Philip Alston, deemed Indigenous rights the “Achilles’ heel of Chile’s [21st century] human rights record,” which sparked a series of armed conflicts between Mapuche activists and Chilean law enforcement.

Subsequently, Chilean media sources have frequently and unjustly painted the Mapuche as a violent demographic.

Bilingual Intercultural Education Program and the Traditional Educator

In 2009, the Ministry of Education integrated the Bilingual Intercultural Education (EIB) program into the General Education Law. The program introduced 1st through 6th-grade education in the Aymara, Quechua, Rapa Nui and Mapuche languages in schools where more than 20% of enrollees are Indigenous persons. However, this general law operates on a discretionary basis and parents can choose to opt their children out of bilingual programming.

Moreover, since many Chilean teachers are unfamiliar with Indigenous languages, “traditional educators” (Indigenous persons who lack formal training and professional educator status) spearhead curriculum in the classroom. Still, EIB schools are threatened by Chilean discrimination toward Indigenous populations. Frequent disrespect toward these communities, often perpetuated by the media, deters many young people in Chile from engaging with social issues affecting Indigenous groups. It seems that EIB programs and mere exposure to Indigenous languages are not enough to sustain an entire culture.

La Piedra School

As the most underserved region in Chile, Araucanía is heavily populated by the Mapuche people. This group has little representation in the Chilean Congress and often faces extreme police brutality during peaceful protests for community and Indigenous rights. For example, in 2015, the Mapuche Governor of Araucanía, Francisco Huenchumilla, was removed from office for advocating political reforms that would incorporate Mapuche rights. Although the Mapuche actively push for educational reform, their advocacy is often dismissed.

The first Mapuche political organizations (like the Sociedad Caupolicán) advocated for the protection of ancestral lands and increased access to cultural education. La Piedra School is compounding on this early effort to cultural reform; also providing work opportunities to the Mapuche people, many of whom are agriculturalists or teachers. In an effort to preserve Mapuche identity, La Piedra School in Temuco, Araucanía, Chile, provides an integrated academic and cultural education for Mapuche residents. This approach allows students to maintain their cultural heritage while pursuing a comprehensive and authentic curriculum.

Geometric Spatial Elements

The infrastructure features circumference, cardinal points and orthogonality, elements that are critical to Mapuche culture. The exterior also displays a sun, moon and earth emblem: three symbols that appear on the Mapuche coat of arms. The building’s circular design pays homage to the Mapuche tradition of convening in circles to reinforce equality within the community. To reflect this value, classrooms are arranged in a circle, with students seated equidistant from the teacher.

The structure also includes a courtyard for the Canelo Tree, an agricultural element deeply tied to Mapuche spirituality. This cultural feature invites “El Nguillatún” into the space, a Mapuche ceremony where communities express gratitude to spirits and make requests for good fortune. Nature, too, plays a critical role in Mapuche culture. The design allows sunlight to enter the classrooms before students take their seats, creating a sense of clarity and groundedness that permeates the learning environment.

Conclusion

Without sacrificing the curricular components of an inclusive bilingual education, La Piedra School effectively integrates elements of ethnocultural awareness into the learning environment. This demonstrates how education can meet standardized curricula while incorporating community language, oral traditions, iconography, reading and writing practices. Moreover, as a primary space for fostering cultural education, La Piedra can inform the Chilean public about Mapuche history, conflict and struggle and improve the quality of Mapuche life in intercultural spaces.

– Talia Gitlin

Talia is based in Natick, MA, USA and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr