Poeta: Jaime Huenún Villa

Traducción: Sacha Berg

I am a Mapuche child

I am a Mapuche child, and I live by the river. I speak in Mapudungun, The language of my people. My mother weaves in silence. My father sows the wheat. My grandfather tells me stories, of the ancient Mapuche people. Always respect where you come from,don’t insult your friends, greet the sun and the land, help your neighbours. On the road my father,gives me this advice, whilst my mother prepares, soft wheat mounds. I am a Mapuche child, learn to live with me, together let’s dream of the earth, that all the children yearn for.

Imagen: “soñemos juntos la tierra que anhelan los niños”/ “together let’s dream of the earth that all the children yearn for” Ho’okipa Beach, Mauii, Hawaii, 2021. (Imagen by Sacha Berg) Ho’okipa Beach in Mauii is renowned for trying to preserve a sustainable co-existence between nature and human interaction from tourists. It reminds me of the poem because the locals in Mauii stress the importance of protecting the ocean and the environment more generally in order to maintain a flourishing and natural earth that we can all enjoy and gain pleasure from. This beach was also busy with many local Mauian children.