Grafismo, multitemporalidad y textos como objetos de poder en la biografía de una Machi Mapuche en Chile
Revista Chilena de Antropología May 2, 2016 Ana Mariella Bacigalupo
Mapuche oral shamanic biographies and performances, some taking the form of “bibles” involving shamanic literacies, are central to producing indigenous history in southern Chile. A mixed-race Mapuche shaman charged the author with writing her life and practice as such a “bible,” which would become a ritual object storing her shamanic power through textualization, allowing her to speak to a future audience. The stored realities and powers could be extracted, transformed, circulated, and actualized for various ends, even shamanic rebirth. The author argues that through their use and interpretation of these “bibles,” Mapuche shamans expand academic notions of indigenous history and literacy.