I was born in a Diaguita territory, in the inlet of Tequirque on the hill of Kokimpu in 1964, I have lived in Coquimbo all my life and I am the creator of some musical instruments with South-Andean influences in Agave wood, with designs and iconographies originating from our culture, which is reflected in my book: “The Agave is singing with the aesthetics and the Diaguita sonority in the lands of Coquimbo”.
My life has been beautiful but, when I was a child, marginality marked my social needs, but not my interest in sports, music and studies, which over time, all of them, result in an unequal and unequal situation in this society.
In spite of that, my family gave me a special idea, my mother Mirna, who was a seamstress, and my father José, who was a carpenter, taught me to fight in spite of all adversity and to get up from any crisis situation strengthened and with new lessons. I feel the need to reclaim the ancestral legacy of my Diaguita lineage, passed down through my maternal grandmother, Albertina Araya, who taught me to see life through ancestral indigenist eyes.
As a multidisciplinary artist these days, I have managed to channel my frustrations and failures through creative work in diverse areas of culture. Changing my perspective towards a mentality of abundance has been key to achieving my goals and now I seek to position for the whole a recognition and appreciation of the road travelled as Diaguita and together with others to promote a valid ancestral look. I declare myself an integral artist, because I believe in the need to master different cultural ambits and explore new perspectives to enrich the world with my artistic proposal that delivers a vision of the future-present. Today my main objective, together with other Diaguita brothers and sisters, is to recover the rich artistic legacy left by our Diaguita ancestors and to revalue each geometric line, form, aesthetics and sound that make up the territorial artistic codex of my culture.
Some obstacles
However, in modern life, national equity has been eroded, affecting not only my own wisdom, but also the educational, social and cultural wisdom of a social and ethnic group such as ours.
Unfortunately, the Chilean Diaguita are being made invisible by the republic, being recognised as a native people without territory oxxr language. This shows the ignorance of the governmental authorities about our territorial ancestry of more than 1800 years and our artistic legacy recognised in the pre-Columbian art of South America by the vast majority of scholars and educated people in society.
Throughout history, we have been subjugated by the Incas, the European conquerors and by some Chilean mestizos, and today, we are acculturated even by our own Mapuche brothers. There is an urgent need to strengthen our traditions and customs, but there are obstacles in the way. The institutions in charge of processing and supporting our initiatives put us off and ignore us, preventing us from exercising our voices for the moment. It is time to raise our demands, our visions and the common reality we live in.
It is essential to raise awareness and open up space for our original Diaguita people. In this modern time, the Elqui Valley and its native people are repositories of a unique planetary energy that is open to the spirit and the best of the human being. Respect and love are the pillars of our coexistence and wellbeing, we bring unique knowledge and ways of understanding the world differently.
It is time to put an end to the acculturation that can be understood as a process of disappearance and work together to build a more just and equitable society, to converge and understand them as brothers and sisters towards a common future. Our ancestral legacy deserves to be recognised and valued, and our Diaguita culture must occupy a prominent place in the cultural and social panorama of the world.
Note: Audio only for the visually impaired
Kokimpu, Abya Yala, Télkara 2023.
Felipe Yuri Retamal Albiña. AJOYAK DIAGUITA
Member of Convergencia de las Culturas -Chile
