Elicura Chihuailaf Nahuelpán (, 1952 in Quechurehue,

Cautín Province Cautín Province ( es, Provincia de Cautín) is one of two provinces in the southern Chilean region of La Araucanía (IX), bounded on the north by Arauco and Malleco provinces, on the east by Argentina, on the south by Valdivia Province, and on ...

) is a

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and author whose works are written both in Mapudungun and in

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, and have been translated into many other languages as well. He has also translated the works of other poets, such as Pablo Neruda, into Mapudungun. He is the recipient of the 2020 National Prize for Literature, the first Mapuche writer to receive this award. He has been referred to as the

lonco A lonko or lonco (from Mapudungun ''longko'', literally "head"), is a chief of several Mapuche communities. These were often ulmen, the wealthier men in the lof. In wartime, lonkos of the various local rehue or the larger aillarehue would gather ...

, or chieftain, of Mapudungun poetry, and works at recording and preserving the oral tradition of his people. "Elicura" is from the Mapudungun phrase for "transparent stone", "Chihuailaf" means "fog spread on the lake", and "Nahuelpán" is "tiger/cougar". In his book ''Recado Confidencial a los Chilenos'', he talks about a childhood around the bonfire, in which he learnt the art of conversation ("''nvtram''") and the advice of the elderly ("''gulam''"). Similarly, nature with its diversity taught him the cosmic vitality hid from those unwary. This need to express his cultural richness, diverse in itself, made him become an ''Oralitor'', that is, carrier of the oral expression of the Mapuche elderly, this destiny being told by means of "Blue Dreams" (''Kallfv Pewma''): ''This will be a singer, you said / giving me the Blue Horse of the Word.'' In ''Recado Confidencial a los Chilenos'', the poet presents a deeply felt defense of Mother Nature, whom the Mapuche consider threatened by the dominant culture: post-modern capitalism. Considering the current environmental crisis, his message should be listened not only by Chileans but by everybody. The English translation of ''Recado Confidencial a los Chilenos'' (Message to Chileans; translated by Celso Cambiazo) is now in print published by Trafford Publishing in 2009.

Published works

* En el pais de la memoria: maputukulpakey (1988) Temucho: Quechurewe oetry; some of the poems have been translated into Mapundungun* El invierno, su imagen, y otros poemas azules (1991) Santiago, Chile: Ediciones Literatura Alternativa oetry, bilingual edition* De sueños azules y contrasueños (1995) Santiago, Chile: Ed. Universitaria oetry, bilingual edition* Sueños de luna azul = Kechurewe Temuko (2008) Santiago, Chile: Cuatro Vientos Editorial oetry, bilingual edition

References

External links

*Interview with Elicura Chihuailaf a
El Mercurio de Antofagasta
1952 births Living people People from Cautín Province Chilean male poets Indigenous writers of the Americas University of Concepción alumni Mapuche poets 20th-century Chilean poets 21st-century Chilean poets 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers 20th-century Mapuche people 21st-century Mapuche people Chilean people of Mapuche descent {{Chile-writer-stub