Indigenous Focus: Indigenous Languages Being Strengthened Throughout Chile

Seminar on Mapuche language. Photograph credit: Gobierno de Chile.

At the beginning of October, CONADI (the Chilean government’s department for Indigenous development) put out a press release stating that they were working with Diaguita communities to develop a plan to rescue the Kakan language – a language spoken for centuries by the Diaguita people and, until recently, believed to be largely lost. One week later, another release talked about how a class of more than 20 Indigenous individuals in northern Chile completed an introductory class on the Quechua language. Shortly after that, there were reports about a hospital in Santiago that put up signs in Mapudungun—the language of the Mapuche people—as part of an intercultural health initiative. And just a few days ago, a two-day seminar with Indigenous leaders and government officials took place in order to discuss the state of Mapudungun in Chile and how its use can be promoted. And of course, there are countless language initiatives that come from Indigenous peoples themselves. For example, in November, the Red por los Derechos Educativos y Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas de Chile (Network for Education and Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Chile) will host the Second Congress on Indigenous Languages in Chile.

The common theme in each of these stories is obvious: Indigenous languages.

Although the data varies, it is safe to say that at the time Europeans made their way to South America, there were more than 1,500 languages being spoken on the continent. Today, that number has dropped to less than 400. In some areas, languages are disappearing very quickly, while in others Indigenous languages are making a strong comeback.

Quechua language class. Photograph credit: Gobierno de Chile.

In Chile, there are nine recognized Indigenous peoples throughout the country. Historically, these nine peoples spoke eight different languages (both the Quechua people and the Colla people spoke variants of Quechua). Today, two of those languages—Kunza, traditionally spoken by the Atacameño people, and the previously-mentioned Kakan—are considered extinct. Despite this classification, there have been efforts in recent months and years to document what remains of those languages in an attempt to revitalize them.

Two additional languages are very close to losing all their native speakers. The Yágan people who live in the southern part of Chile, are believed to have only one fluent speaker left—a remarkable woman named Cristina Calderón Haban who has spent much of her life trying to pass on the traditions, culture and language of her ancestors to her descendants. Additionally, the Kawashkar people—the majority of which currently live in Puerto Eden—have less than ten individuals who are fluent in their native tongue. Due to these dwindling numbers, in September the Kawshkar people brought a proposal to the government designed to record, protect and revitalize their language and culture for future generations.

Rapa Nui language program. Photograph credit: Gobierno de Chile.

The Rapa Nui people of Easter Island also have, numerically speaking, few fluent speakers—estimated at less than 800—but this does represent around twenty percent of their total population. Like the other Indigenous peoples of Chile, efforts to grow the number of fluent speakers are in the works. For instance, within the past year, more than 80 toddlers were enrolled in a program to begin teaching the Rapa Nui language and culture at a young age on the Island.

In addition, Chile is home to three Indigenous languages that still are widely spoken on the continent.  The most common of these languages in Chile is Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche people. It is believed that approximately one quarter of a million people speak the various dialects of this language throughout Chile and Argentina, and people living in Santiago and further south may very well have encountered classes and other workshops teaching the language.

In northern Chile—as well as Argentina, Bolivia and Peru and elsewhere—you will find speakers of both Aymara and Quechua. Again, estimates vary largely, but more than two million people in the world speak Aymara and as many as ten million speak Quechua. It is interesting to note that both of these languages are considered official languages, along with Spanish, in Bolivia and Peru.

In Chile, Spanish is the only official language, but there are multiple laws that protect Indigenous peoples’ rights to speak their language, learn in their language, and teach their children their language in public schools.  Some of these laws have only recently been passed in Chile and so Indigenous communities and the government alike are working on how to make the legal ideal a reality. Language is at the heart of how individuals relate to one another and the environment around them. Naturally, the work to revitalize nearly extinct languages or to maintain the use of living languages is vitally important to protecting Indigenous identity and culture.