The Amerindian Good Living as a Sustainable Alternative …
269
the culture. The leader Almir Surui first met Google Earth in 2007 and immediately
realized its potential to preserve the heritage and traditions of his people. He proposed
a partnership with Google to create an online map of Suruí cultural heritage, as well as
a new system to monitor illegal logging and carbon stock using Android smartphones.
This was the first project of deforestation and forest degradation mapping conducted
by the indigenous community. Through this project, Suruís calculated the value
of their forest in the voluntary carbon market—and became the first indigenous
community to receive funds to preserve their forests. According to Almir Suruí “the
world can learn more about the forest and the history of each Indigenous community
and recognize the role these lands play in the conservation of our planet” (GOOGLE
BLOG 2018).
8 Mapuche (Chile)
The Mapuche people originate in the central south zone of Chile and Argentina, with
a history documented by archaeological records of around 4000 years of existence.
(Bengoa 2007). In the 16th century, they had political, economic and social development in a vast territory with a population that surpassed one million inhabitants
organized and with practices related to their natural environment. However, since
the arrival of the Spanish, they have faced a process of loss of their natural and cultural environment. Under the military dictatorship, this process has continued and
now repeats with the Chilean state and its different methods in the search for the
reduction of the culture with the introduction of settlers and the fragmentation of
communities and settlements (Díaz 2010).
The Mapuche people continue resisting the colonization of centuries with various
methods and practices for the restitution of their ancestral territory, many by peaceful
means and with international support and others with more aggressive methods, an
unresolved conflict that has already suffered material and human losses (Pairican
2014).
According to Bengoa (1996, p. 27), in Arauco, “the abundant nature of resources
has allowed the development of a large-scale collecting system”, which reveals the
high levels of biodiversity that existed prior to changes in the territory. Despite the
vast population (more than one million inhabitants between the VII and X region), the
way of life was appropriate according to the needs of its surroundings. However, this
model changed in the period of the colony with intensive agriculture, being reflected
in the present time as a model that is not so different, the forest monoculture.
The reflection of these changes in the Mapuche territory is a loss of their mannature relationship, which is the reason of a high resistance in the process of recovery
of the territory, once there is a link between the Nehuen (forces of the universe) and
their symbolic way of life. In this approach, the balance between the natural and
cultural environment is reduced by the irresponsible anthropization of the territory.
The contribution of the Mapuche people is in their intangible heritage which is
their mode of occupation, the link with the natural environment, the responsibility
269
the culture. The leader Almir Surui first met Google Earth in 2007 and immediately
realized its potential to preserve the heritage and traditions of his people. He proposed
a partnership with Google to create an online map of Suruí cultural heritage, as well as
a new system to monitor illegal logging and carbon stock using Android smartphones.
This was the first project of deforestation and forest degradation mapping conducted
by the indigenous community. Through this project, Suruís calculated the value
of their forest in the voluntary carbon market—and became the first indigenous
community to receive funds to preserve their forests. According to Almir Suruí “the
world can learn more about the forest and the history of each Indigenous community
and recognize the role these lands play in the conservation of our planet” (GOOGLE
BLOG 2018).
8 Mapuche (Chile)
The Mapuche people originate in the central south zone of Chile and Argentina, with
a history documented by archaeological records of around 4000 years of existence.
(Bengoa 2007). In the 16th century, they had political, economic and social development in a vast territory with a population that surpassed one million inhabitants
organized and with practices related to their natural environment. However, since
the arrival of the Spanish, they have faced a process of loss of their natural and cultural environment. Under the military dictatorship, this process has continued and
now repeats with the Chilean state and its different methods in the search for the
reduction of the culture with the introduction of settlers and the fragmentation of
communities and settlements (Díaz 2010).
The Mapuche people continue resisting the colonization of centuries with various
methods and practices for the restitution of their ancestral territory, many by peaceful
means and with international support and others with more aggressive methods, an
unresolved conflict that has already suffered material and human losses (Pairican
2014).
According to Bengoa (1996, p. 27), in Arauco, “the abundant nature of resources
has allowed the development of a large-scale collecting system”, which reveals the
high levels of biodiversity that existed prior to changes in the territory. Despite the
vast population (more than one million inhabitants between the VII and X region), the
way of life was appropriate according to the needs of its surroundings. However, this
model changed in the period of the colony with intensive agriculture, being reflected
in the present time as a model that is not so different, the forest monoculture.
The reflection of these changes in the Mapuche territory is a loss of their mannature relationship, which is the reason of a high resistance in the process of recovery
of the territory, once there is a link between the Nehuen (forces of the universe) and
their symbolic way of life. In this approach, the balance between the natural and
cultural environment is reduced by the irresponsible anthropization of the territory.
The contribution of the Mapuche people is in their intangible heritage which is
their mode of occupation, the link with the natural environment, the responsibility