Winged Voices: Mapuche Ornithology from South American Temperate Forests

Abstract

Ethno-ornithological studies have shown the complexity of indigenous systems of classification of local biota. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about the etymology of bird names used by indigenous peoples in many locations and about the phenomenological meaning of these names. We conducted an extensive literature review of Mapuche bird names and their etymologies. Because of the relative importance of onomatopoeias as the origin of Mapuche bird names, we compared the proportion of onomatopoeic names used by different forest-dwelling indigenous peoples worldwide. We found 219 bird names in Mapuzugun for 92 species and 135 etymologies for 72 different species. Sixty-four (47%) etymologies were onomatopoeic, while 29 (21%) etymologies came from the bird's appearance and 21 (16%) from its behavior. Out of a total of 13 different indigenous peoples examined, only the Mbuti (Congo) showed a higher percentage of onomatopoeic names (67%) than the Mapuche. Using a phenomenological framework, we utilized the notion of “sonic incarnation” to discuss how a bird's voice does not necessarily guide the listener's eyes to it but, instead, the experience of hearing it is equated with “seeing” the bird. Onomatopoeic influence is a key root of the bird names used by different indigenous peoples of the world, including the Mapuche, and it may reflect onomatopoeia's great ability to capture immediacy in the landscape of human-bird encounters.

Escuchando a los abuelos: transdisciplina, aves y gente para cultivar la memoria biocultural

“…Trabajamos con un total de 90 niños/niñas (con edades entre 6 y 12 años) y el equipo pedagógico (maestros, directores, maestros mapuche tradicionales o kimche) de cada escuela. «Escuchando a los abuelos» recurrió a las aves porque ellas han estado históricamente presentes en el simbolismo y materialidad humana de los paisajes locales del pueblo mapuche, desde tiempos inmemoriales (Coña & de Moesbach, 2010;Ibarra et al, 2020).…”

We are silently paving the way toward human–wildlife coexistence: The role of women in the rural landscapes of southern Andes

“…On the contrary, in the northern and southern cases, women played a notorious role in animal care that suggests that the practice of nurturing (their children, plants, and animals) could be highly significant for fulfilling an essential role in domestication, conservation, and human-wildlife coexistence in the rural landscape of Chile (Eyzaguirre and Linares, 2010;Barreau and Ibarra, 2019). In addition, in the southern case, shared landscapes with the Mapuche community that have extensive knowledge of the natural world and that consider biodiversity as an important part of their worldview could promote coexistence and intangible value of nature and its cohabitants within the non-Mapuche community (Rozzi, 2012;Ibarra et al, 2020).…”

Scientific Landscape Related to Mapuche Indigenous Peoples and Wallmapu Territory

“…Lorenzo Aillapán and Ricardo Rozzi have been advanced the field of ethno-ornithology [131,132], presenting implications for conservation and environmental philosophy that Mapuche narratives offer. The richness of Mapudungun language has inspired further research in ornithology [133,134], as well as entomology [135]. Some authors have contributed to the comprehension of values and symbolism from a Mapuche perspective that configure the relationship of humans with threatened mammals [136], or with fish and other living beings in continental waters [137].…”