Editorial: Indigenous rights come into relief in Chile’s constitutional vote

Today, Chileans are voting on a new, progressive constitution that could herald an era that highlights indigenous issues and concerns in both national and international political dialogue. The new constitution is the result of a plebiscite on October 25, 2020, where almost 80% of the population voted in favor of a new political constitution.

The population of Chile is 12.8% indigenous. The largest populations are Mapuche, Aymara, Diaguita, Lickanantay and Quechua. These and other indigenous communities suffered tremendously under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, which ended in 1990. Since the fall of the dictatorship, numerous attempts to legally recognize indigenous communities have failed. Despite Chile signing Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the few rights that were present were removed by constitutional decisions that appropriated indigenous control of land, mineral rights and water in favor of business interests.

Wiphala, an emblem that is a square emblem commonly used as a flag to represent several indigenous Andean peoples including those in present-day Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, northwestern Argentina, and southern Colombia.

The proposed constitution defines Chile as a “multinational state,” a state that recognizes that the state consists of many peoples organized under one state—that is, that many nations exist under one government. Plurinationalism (multinationality) is a term that emerged from indigenous rights movements in Latin America and remains an obscure term in the Anglosphere.

However, the concept has already gained some traction as one that poses danger and incites political instability. Some suggest it will destroy free markets and eliminate unity. Others say it ends institutionalized privilege.

Chile’s proposed constitutional process has been unprecedented in its efforts to address and secure cultural, social and economic rights. The proposed constitution specifically contains obligations for indigenous consultation on political matters, recognition of autonomous territories for indigenous peoples, and recognition of indigenous justice. It also reserves 17 seats out of 155 in Chile’s national assembly for indigenous peoples, while also reaffirming the human rights of vulnerable groups and ensuring access to justice. The proposed constitution even includes reparations rights for women, people of African descent and LGBTI people, and ensures abortion rights, universal health care and the rights of nature.

Other nations have attempted pluralism since the movement emerged and the term became popular in the 1980s. Guatemala, Ecuador and Bolivia have all adopted this status, the latter having an indigenous population even larger than Chile. Guatemala has even made pluralism a cornerstone of political discourse.

However, none of these countries have effectively eliminated discrimination and racism against indigenous communities.

In a statement issued last month by Chile’s current ruling coalition, the groups hoped to clarify the powers won by indigenous communities and said they remain “united to adopt a new constitution.” They noted that “as far as indigenous consultation is concerned, it is limited to issues that directly affect indigenous communities” and that the autonomous territories are existing borders and will not “restrict the right of any resident of the Republic to move freely throughout national territory, respecting the Constitution and the Constitution and laws.”

“The constitution will be developed in accordance with the principles of the unity and indivisibility of the State of Chile and the freedoms recognized and protected for all people,” the statement said.

The most controversial issue apparently is domestic justice, and on this issue, the coalition noted that “there will be no parallel justice regimes that call into question the unity, coherence and stability of the judiciary. Local justice will be applied only to members of the same people, it will be voluntary and it will not have jurisdiction over criminal offenses”.

Indeed, the proposed constitution simply preserves the rights of indigenous peoples already codified in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

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Moreover, some of these new constitutional privileges already exist in other nations, but not under the multinational name. The Maori of New Zealand have had parliamentary representation and guaranteed quotas since 1867. The United States has national self-governing tribes of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. The same is true of Canada’s First Nations, provided for in section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982.

However, none of these nations have effectively eliminated discrimination and racism against indigenous communities. Hatred has allies around the world.

Chile today is undergoing a test of whether it will create an inclusive future, a more perfect union that attempts to address the reality of indigenous racism and dehumanization that many nations continue to ignore.

A member of the Chilean Mapuche nation, 2012 [Raul Urzua, Wikimedia Commons, CC 2.0]

As an example of indigenous dehumanization, we need look no further than the hole man.

The Hole Man was a member of an indigenous community living in the Tanaru Indigenous Territory in the south-western Brazilian state of Rondônia, which borders Bolivia. The person nicknamed the Hole Man was likely the last of a largely uncontacted ethnic group that spoke a language unknown to us. We don’t know his name.

Since 1996, the Fundação Nacional do Índio (National Indian Foundation of Brazil or FUNAI) interacted with the Hole Man remotely. But he continued to live in isolation, growing corn and taro and hunting, leaving behind thatched huts that always contained a 10-foot-deep hole of unknown purpose that gave him his nickname.

It has survived numerous attacks by farmers, the latest in 2018, prompting FUNAI to release a video of its existence to raise awareness.

The holes he created were thought to be for hunting and trapping, but some observations suggested that they had a spiritual purpose.

We will never know. It was also never our right to know.

The man in the hole was found dead by FUNAI agent Altair José Algayer on August 24, 2022. The agent said his body was found lying on a hammock covered with macaw feathers outside one of his huts. Indigenous expert Marcelo dos Santos told local media that he thought the man had put the feathers on himself, knowing he was about to die. “He was expecting death, there were no signs of violence,” he said, adding that the Man in the Hole had been dead for perhaps 40 to 50 days before his body was found.

FUNAI defended what agency he had that was conveyed by his behavior. However, farmers encroached on his lands, his images were broadcast, and like many other indigenous people, he was the target of violence for existing.

In Chile, Elisa Loncon, president of Chile’s constitutional assembly and a member of the indigenous Mapuche community, said: “For the first time in our history, Chileans from all walks of life and from all political factions are participating in a democratic dialogue.

“Hope is returning to human beings,” Loncon said. “What we are seeing is a human dream.”

If nothing else, Chile’s groundbreaking vote today will remind us again how much work remains to secure indigenous rights.

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