Mapuche sports help Indigenous Chileans revive culture - The World from PRX
theworld.org
Chile’s Indigenous Mapuche people have long fought the government over land claims. They've faced discrimination and assimilation in Chilean society. But some Mapuche communities are now turning the page. And they’re using an ancestral sport to help protect and revive their culture, customs and language.

Chile’s Indigenous Mapuche people have long fought the government over land claims. They’ve faced discrimination and assimilation into Chilean society. But some Mapuche communities are now turning the page. And they’re using an ancestral sport to help protect and revive their culture, customs and language.

Javier Soto Antihual, 35, is the coach and leader of these weekend games in the Santiago neighborhood of Pedro Aguirre Cerda.

He said that there’s a large Mapuche community here. And with the help of the Mapuche organization We Newen, or New Force, they’ve been holding these community games here for several years.