Letter to a Mapuche Son, a poem by Ximena Soza

 

Letter to a Mapuche Son

 

tañi pichi wentru,

Tañi Pichi Weichafe,

Tañi Mapuche pvñvm

 

If when seeing your skin

someone doubts your intentions

or questions you

or follows you through a store

Remember that your skin speaks of eternities under the sun,

And of storms that were learned to be measured by the moon’s width.

Remember your skin talks of clay transformed into vessels holding the sacred elixir of the ceremony,

and of brown eyes that have been the millenary witnesses of what we have become.

Like the word of your ancestors,

you, keep on holding to your intentions just the same.

 

If you see the trace of el mestizaje that I left running through your veins

and someone doubts that you are Mapuche or thinks you are not Mapuche enough,

remember that history is not told by counting the letters of people’s last names,

nor by counting the freckles that I stamped on your face,

not even by pointing at the fall colors that can be seen in your hair,

or by talking about the corners of the cities where you lived.

Remember that there is no percentage in the DNA that should speak for you,

remember, just remember

and the ancestral memory that travels through your blood

will tell you strongly

that you, you are Mapuche just the same.

 

And if when fighting

Someone tells you that those who fight and are like you or have your last name,

die, disappear or are imprisoned,

remember that if you were imprisoned, I would open a corner of freedom in your soul, with books and letters,

and that if you were disappeared, I would search for each word in your dictionary,

until deciphering each of their meanings,

and your name, would dance forever between my lips,

and that I would carry your picture pinned to my chest in every corner of my life.

And remember that if you died, I would hug every grain of the earth in my hands

And it would make it bloom in your honor.

And even if I am scared,

and even if you are scared,

Your fight

tañi pichi wentru,

Tañi Pichi Weichafe,

Tañi Mapuche pvñvm

You, you fight just the same.

 

 

*tañi pichi wentru (my little man)

Tañi Pichi Weichafe (my little warrior)

Tañi Mapuche pvñvm (my Mapuche son)

 

 

 

Carta a un hijo Mapuche

 

tañi pichi wentru,

Tañi pichi weichafe,

Tañi Mapuche pvñvm

 

Si al ver tu piel

Alguien duda de tus intenciones

O te cuestiona

O te sigue por una tienda

Recuerda que tu piel habla de eternidades bajo el sol,

De tempestades que aprendieron a medirse con el ancho de la luna,

Habla de barro transformado en vasijas sosteniendo el elixir sagrado de la ceremonia,

de ojos castaños testigos milenarios de lo que llegamos a ser.

como la palabra empeñada de los antiguos,

Tu, tu afirma tus intenciones igual

 

Si al ver la huella del mestizaje que deje corriendo por tus venas

Alguien duda de tu ser Mapuche

Recuerda que la historia no se cuenta solo en las letras de los apellidos

Ni en las pecas que estampe en tu rostro

ni en los colores de otoño que se divisan en tu pelo,

ni en las esquinas de las ciudades en las que viviste

recuerda que no hay un porcentaje en el ADN que deba hablar por ti,

recuerda, tu solo recuerda

y la memoria ancestral que viaja por tu sangre

te dirá con fuerza

que tu, tu eres mapuche igual.

 

Y si al luchar

Alguien te dice que los que luchan y son como tú o tienen tu apellido,

mueren, desaparecen o son encarcelados,

Recuerda que si te encarcelaran, yo abriría una esquinita de libertad en tu alma, con libros y cartas

Y que si desaparecieras, yo buscaría cada palabra de tu diccionario

Hasta descifrar su significado

Y tu nombre, lo haría bailar para siempre entre mis labios

Y tú foto, la llevaría clavada al pecho por todos los rincones de la vida.

Y recuerda que si murieras yo abrazaría cada grano de la tierra entre las manos

Y la haría florecer en tu honor.

Y aunque me de miedo,

Y aunque te de miedo,

Tu lucha

tañi pichi wentru,

Tañi pichi  weichafe,

Tañi Mapuche pvñvm

Tu, tu lucha igual.

 

 

*tañi pichi wentru (mi pequeño hombrecito)

Tañi Pichi Weichafe (mi pequeño guerrero)

Tañi Mapuche pvñvm (mi hijo Mapuche)

 

To find out more about Ximena Soza see her website https://www.ximenasoza.com/

 

Author’s photo by Ryan Livingstone.

Cover image: Courtesy of GALGUII ESTUDIO (RTV), Mapuche Canta