Nearly a decade after Mapuche activists occupied Fundo Pidenco, a parcel of land once part of the forestry holdings of the Chilean company Arauco, the dispute over ancestral territory continues to shape lives and resistance efforts in the region. Fundo Pidenco, located amid hills and fields transformed from barren land into productive territory, remains a focal point for Mapuche communities seeking to reclaim and restore their ancestral lands.
Orfelina Alcaman, a 44-year-old spokesperson for the community, has lived on Fundo Pidenco since 2016, leading efforts to rebuild the land and advance Mapuche cultural and economic autonomy. She describes the reclamation as a process of healing the earth and reviving traditions that were disrupted by industrial forestry development. Rejecting accusations of terrorism commonly leveled against those involved in land occupations, Alcaman emphasized the community’s commitment to peaceful stewardship and cultural survival, stating their intention to remain on the land permanently.
Symbolic to the struggle is a carved wooden totem, or chemamull, marking the grave of Pablo Marchant, an activist affiliated with the Coordinadora Arauco Malleco (CAM) who was killed during a 2021 confrontation with police. Marchant’s death has since become emblematic for many in the movement determined to resist displacement.
Tensions remain high, especially after recent court proceedings in Temuco involving members of the Llaitul family, prominent figures in the Mapuche resistance. Pelantaro Llaitul, son of imprisoned activist Héctor Llaitul, along with four other young men, received lengthy prison sentences for participation in a violent attack against forestry company property. Outside the courtroom, supporters gathered in solidarity during the Mapuche new year celebration, We Tripantu, expressing determination to continue the struggle.
Ernesto Llaitul, Héctor’s eldest son, acknowledged the hardships of witnessing family members incarcerated, but insisted the fight for rights and recognition would persist. The younger generation of activists is displaying diverse approaches to the conflict. Weftui Llaitul, the youngest son and a law student at the University of Chile, is channeling efforts into legal advocacy to defend Mapuche prisoners and assert Indigenous land rights, signaling a shift toward institutional methods alongside traditional resistance.
Elsewhere in southern Chile, environmental concerns are increasingly central to Mapuche activism. In the Alto Biobio region, 20-year-old machi Millaray Suarez is focusing on preserving medicinal plants and forests amid new development projects such as the Rucalhue hydroelectric dam, constructed by China’s Three Gorges company on the Biobio River. Suarez and local leaders warn that flooding caused by the dam threatens to destroy old-growth forests and rare traditional plants used in healing practices.
Suarez, one of a small number of young spiritual healers in her community, underscores the responsibility of youth to maintain cultural knowledge and protect natural resources as older generations faced displacement and land loss. Despite legal setbacks in attempts to halt the dam’s progress, she remains steadfast in defending the land and ecosystems crucial to her people’s identity.
The evolving Mapuche struggle encompasses a broad spectrum of tactics—from occupying and restoring land, to legal battles, and environmental activism—reflecting both a continuation of ancestral calls for sovereignty and adaptation to contemporary challenges posed by economic development pressures in southern Chile.