Minister Claudia Barattini described the end of the indigenous consultation as a starting point for a new relationship and as a recognition of indigenous peoples in the development of the legal act that will create the Ministry. The consultations were carried out between CNCA teams and close to 200 representatives of indigenous peoples in the country.
The new name of the new institution, the "Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage", was part of the many agreements reached at the end of the consultation process with Indigenous Peoples. The final meeting sought to include each of the commitments agreed at the regional level in the legal act that will soon be introduced in the Congress.
After more than seven months of meetings in the regions and long hours of negotiation, the Minister of Culture, Claudia Barattini, and Deputy Director Lilia Concha, were in charge of the final two days of consultations.
In this regard, the Minister explained that the name "Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage" is a reflection of the will of the CNCA to incorporate indigenous people in this new phase. "This is the best proof of our will that the new institution is a space where different cultures in our country coexist."
The Minister also noted that "although the consultation process has been completed, we cannot speak of a finished work, knowing that the participation of representatives of communities and organizations of indigenous peoples has charted a course that has just begun. We have seen today, what comes in the immediate future will be demanding, but its fruits have the potential to benefit generations to come. "
Other major resolutions reached between the CNCA and indigenous peoples that will be included in the legal act, are related to the creation of a Council of Indigenous Peoples composed of representatives of the nine recognized groups, the incorporation of the principles of recognizing, respecting and promoting the existing multiculturalism in the country, and the inclusion of the concept of "indigenous cultural heritage".
On the process, the Minister said that more than 500 regional meetings were held. "This is a historical process, because as a Cultural Council we made an effort to design processes that suited the representative institutions of each group, their customs and traditions, understanding that it means not imposition of a single methodology" .
Also, the Minister added that the dialogue process incorporated aspects that were not initially considered as the need to ensure opportunities for participation in the design of cultural policies and the importance of a definition of indigenous cultural heritage. "This process strengthens cultural institutions and, more importantly, we can see the possibilities of dialogue between the Chilean State and indigenous peoples," she concluded.
One of the spokesmen of the Mapuche people, Incheta Curinao Piñei expressed his delight at the agreement reached. "At my age (24), I was able to express the ideology and the feelings of the Mapuche people. The lonkos, machis, all peñis and lamien who were here could hear me and gave me confidence so that I could represent them. What we had worked for within the meetings of the Mapuche people was captured and we're happy and content ".
The delegate of the Kawésqar and Yagán peoples, Leticia Caro Gogle said the process has set a precedent. "The most important thing is that what is embodied in the document is received by the Congress. It’s the very idea of a cultural rescue as we are endangered ethnicities ".
The representative and spokesman of Rapa Nui, Pantu Tepano said that this agreement fulfils the thoughts of all brothers. "When this ministry is set, it will communicate directly with the Easter Island so we can speak our minds and reach some understanding where our thoughts are included."
Pachocollo Oscar Gonzalez, spokesman for the indigenous Kolla, described the moment as historic. "It's been 20 years of work and struggle trying to find the best for my people. We are leading the way to my people, my children. It's a new dawn and we will celebrate in Copiapó ".
Inputs for a new public policy
The Minister Barattini said the CNCA has understood that this consultation has had a much greater extent than projected in the beginning, because "we have also collected inputs we will be able to use for the development of new cultural policies for the indigenous people ".
To do this, the Minister announced that from next year the Indigenous Peoples Unit will become a Department, which translates into more resources and greater interference in policies for the people, "we will work with this department to meet the demands raised during the consultation, "she said.
The agreements
National agreements ratified with representatives of the CNCA, were:
1. That the themes raised will be assumed as binding, i.e. to be included in the body of the text that will enter a legislative process for the creation of the new Ministry.
2. The new institution will be called "the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage".
3. The principles to recognize, respect and promote the existing multiculturalism in the country will be incorporated, taking into account the at least 9 indigenous peoples recognized today, i.e. Aymara, Quechua, Atacameño or Licanantay Diaguita, Mapuche, Rapa Nui , Kawésqar, Yagan and Colla, including both their urban and rural members.
4. The State will promote the recognition of Afro-descendants in the region of Arica and Parinacota that meets tribal condition according to the ILO Convention 169 and is a major contribution to the cultural identity of Chile.
5. The State will promote the recognition of pre-Colombian peoples, such as the people of Chango.
6. The concept of "indigenous cultural heritage" that includes elements such as tangible and intangible cultural heritage and land of indigenous peoples of the territory of Chile will be incorporated.
7. It will be part of the Ministry's functions to propose to the President of the Republic, public policies related to the safeguarding of artistic and cultural rights of indigenous peoples with an intercultural approach, recognizing the pre-existence of these peoples to the establishment of the State of Chile.
8. A Council of Indigenous Peoples will be created, which will represent the 9 native nations recognized today, and those that are recognized in the future, under the rules of ILO Convention 169 on equal conditions.
9. For the Afro-Descendent people of the Arica and Parinacota region, the Council will seek the formula to incorporate their participation in the Councils of the future Ministry.
10. What will be a function of the Ministry of Cultures is to create a permanent interministerial coordination with the Ministry of Education, in order to give sufficient expression to cultural, artistic and equity components in planning, curricula and pedagogical work and training of teachers and educational establishments, a framework for recognition and respect for the existing multiculturalism in the country and the promotion and development of linguistic rights of indigenous peoples, among other aspects.
11. The Ministry will create interministerial cooperation with other Ministries in all the aspects related to its functions and themes.
12. To protect and promote the transmission of ancient culture within families, through public policy.
13. The Department of Indigenous Peoples will be created, which will have regional representation throughout the country, and also in Rapa Nui, as a special territory
14. Traditional authorities should be recognized as ancestral authorities, according to their lineage, ancestry, and especially according to their own use and customs of their community and territory.
The consultation process
The Consultation of Indigenous Peoples sought to incorporate the vision of indigenous peoples and properly protect their rights regarding the measures proposed in the legal act that will create the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage.
The first meetings were held on September 28th. During the process, the CNCA staff recollected opinions and reflections of organizations and representatives of existing indigenous people’s communities in Chile, to which the CNCA added the Afro-descendant community in the region of Arica and Parinacota.
It should be added that during the process also other communities were incorporated such as the descendants of the Chango people, in the Atacama region, who asked to be part of the consultation.
The consultation was designed as a process that would be respectful of the cultural traditions and customs of indigenous peoples. A call that was wider than required by the internal rules, responding the indications of the ILO Convention 169. In total, 1,653 representatives of indigenous organizations participated throughout the country.