THE LIFE, DEATH, AND REBIRTH OF A MAPUCHE SHAMAN: Remembering, Disremembering, and the Willful Transformation of Memory
Journal of Anthropological Research April 1, 2010 Ana Mariella Bacigalupo 13 citations
The biography of a Mapuche shaman, Francisca Colipi, reveals how marginalized indigenous communities construct and mobilize historical consciousness. Drawing on ethnographic and archival work from 1991 to 2008, the account shows that Francisca's liminal position as an outsider and mediator within her community in southern Chile offers a vantage point for understanding how shamanic narratives of the past shape the present and rewrite local history. Her life, death, and rebirth illuminate the interplay between indigenous agency and national history, remembering and disremembering, and individual versus collective memory, providing new insights into how particular groups see themselves in time.