Analysis of Creative and Identity Processes Among Mapuche Women Weavers in the Araucanía Region
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Integr Psych Behav (2018) 52:614–629 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-018-9456-4 REGULAR ARTICLE Analysis of Creative and Identity Processes among Mapuche Women Weavers in the Araucanía Region Ramiro Gonzalez1,2 & Pedro Mege2 Published online: 3 September 2018 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract The Mapuche practice of weaving has occupied a transcendental role for this commu- nity in its system of symbolic representation. These textiles involve different elements of cultural identity for the community, for the wearers of the garments and, most of all, for their creators. This article analyzes the creation context in which the Mapuche textile tradition brings into tension different aspects of cultural identity and innovation within the construction of cultural memory. It examines two principal scenarios that arose from ethnographic work: 1) selection of materials; 2) preparation and fabrication. The findings show that, in both scenarios, the new rules emerging from religious and commercial concerns in the present-day context of these weavers are linked with the diverse positions taken by each woman. We discuss how these new rules are associated with different processes of cultural identity in this group of Mapuche women. Keywords Mapuche . Indigenous . Creative . Identity. Weavers . Memory This article presents a study of the psychological processes associated with the creation of Mapuche textiles, in which the weaving tradition and aspects of identity and innovation come into tension in construction of cultural memory. One of this article’s goals is to delve into, from the perspective of cultural or social psychology, the psychological processes tied to creativity while also accounting for the traditional or historical context in which the artisanal creation of these products occurs. Research by Patricia Greenfield (2004) on women weavers in Chiapas provides an important precedent for how social processes come into tension with creative processes, and hints at or allows for speculation about the relationship of these processes to the ethnic identity of this group of weavers. * Ramiro Gonzalez [email protected] 1 Facultad de Psicología, Universidad San Sebastián, Lientur 1457, Concepción 4080871, Chile 2 Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Avda. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul, Santiago, Chile Integr Psych Behav (2018) 52:614–629 615 The Mapuche are the largest indigenous group in Chile. The most recent censuses indicate that the Metropolitan region is home to the largest population of Mapuche, followed by the Araucanía region (INE 2002), even though historically they have mostly resided in the south. There are diverse hypotheses on the origins of these southern inhabitants of Chile: some involve migrations from the Amazon or Chaco regions, and others even propose a link between the Mapuche and Tiahuanaco cultures (Bengoa 2003). Recently, these hypotheses have come under scrutiny due to archaeo- logical finds at Monte Verde (near the city of Puerto Montt) that date to around 13,000 years before present, which would make the site the oldest human settlement in Chile (Dillehay 2004). The Mapuche communities known as the Mapuche- Pehuenche and Mapuche-Lafquenche reside in the Araucanía region, in the provinces of Cautín and Malleco (which are where the cases we shall discuss in this article are located). In Chilean society, these communities are popularly categorized under the broad term of BMapuche.^ According to Bengoa and Caniguan (2011), in recent years the Mapuche population has undergone a profound process of Bmodernization/ integration,^ characterized by a very strong Bpro-state clientele^ relationship. For this group, its textile practice has played a transcendental role, one which involves different elements of identity for the community itself, for the wearers of the textiles, and, most of all, for their creators. The textile practice has always been in charge of the Mapuche women, they are the specialists (Mege 1990). In other Mapuche arts, for example jewelry, men have participated in greater numbers. It is important to note that, historically, weaving was a practice reserved for wealthy women who had excess time from their domestic chores (Mege 1987). Currently, every Mapuche woman, independent of her economic level and social hierarchy, is dedicated to knitting and does it with a commercial sense more than for pleasure. At present, the scenario in which this activity occurs involves a complex web of tensions between identity and creativity, due to major changes that Mapuche weaving is undergoing. The rules of creation and the contexts in which textiles are circulated differ from the typical manner of doing things in the past, which introduces new identity configurations that, when manifested, are not without conflict and contradictions for the authors of the textiles (Gonzalez and Haye 2015). The artisanal practice of these weavers currently occurs in a scenario of change, where variables of identity come into play and offer diverse configurations. Richard Sennett (2009) notes that the work of an artisan implies a special life commitment to the task, and also to the materials which it employs. In line with Sennett, we consider that such a commitment entails different degrees of identification; moreover, based on this, it allows us the opportunity to observe, through the work, the diverse manners in which creation interacts with cultural identity. In this case, we speculate that these women use weaving as a special means of creating Bmemory,^ which encompasses a great deal of their identity con- struction. The present context of Mapuche weavers, addressed in our ethnography, allowed us to observe a scene of conflicting creation among these women. They debated among themselves over whether to maintain a method of creation that is more in line with ancient weavers, or to adjust to new rules that contradict those old ways. These contradictions produce conflicts on both an individual and a group level. At the individual level, weavers are faced with the decision between one method or another, generating different levels of tension depending on their degree of identification with Mapuche culture. At the group level, those weavers more bound to traditional ways 616 Integr Psych Behav (2018) 52:614–629 spurn the work of modern weavers, accusing them of making exaggerated changes in style. On the other hand, for the modern weavers, these recently learned rules permit them a kind of rapprochement with part of their Mapuche identity that was denied or hidden for years. These recognitions and repudiations of identity are articulated through different stereotypes emerging from changes in their religious beliefs and commercial practices. This article analyzes different cases of Mapuche women weavers in Chile’s Araucanía region in order to understand how are they dealing with both ancient and new methods of textile creation in the construction of their identities. Specifically, we analyze the creative and identity articulations that emerge in the tensions between these two types of textile construction methods observed. Identity, Creativity and Mapuche Textiles José Van Dijck (2004) notes that the accumulation of this kind of product (in our case, of textiles) reflects a historical time frame being appreciated as cultural memory,orin other words, as mediated memories that are part of our individual identities: BThey are creative acts of cultural production and collection through which people make sense of their own lives and their connection to the lives of others^ (p. 262). Therefore, here we understand there to be a close relationship between memory and identity, based on which the social group maintains a sense of sameness over time. In this sense, according to John Gillis (1994), we constantly revise our memories to adopt our identities. Based on this, we also consider that a living memory or culture must remain in constant movement, revising or cultivating those traditions, which would require some changes and, at the same time, certain limits to conserve the sense of sameness. Patricia Greenfield, in her book BWeaving Generations Together^ (2004), asks how the Zinacantán community in Chiapas, Mexico, has maintained its weaving tradition over the centuries. She would find an answer to this question in the way weaving is taught and transmitted from one generation to the next, focusing her lens of observation on the socialization and development of children in the community. With respect to Greenfield’s research, we also evaluate generational transmission, but we have not had the opportunity to analyze transmission and education among children. Therefore, for this study we treated the Bgroup of expert weavers^ and the Bgroup of novice weavers^ – both of which are groups that the weavers themselves recognize – as two generations in a process of transmission. Focusing on the tension between stability and change in textile art and Mapuche social identity processes, we find in the works of Mege (1987) a report of discordance between the discourse of the woven textiles and the reality in which the Mapuche people live. According to Mege, a majority of Mapuche textiles contain a rather complex semiotic structure, and these iconic symbols have concrete references. In line with this point, the simplicity of contemporary textiles or their incorporation of symbols Bthat don’t mean anything^ occurs because these concrete references are unavailable in the present day. One example of this would be the conflict that arises from dressing in garments of honor or power when one feels that those particular traits have been lost, whereby there is a Bcontradiction between the discourse of one’s robes and the precarious reality which one is subject to in present conditions^ (Mege 1989, p. 112). In this study, we opt to delve deeper into the weavers’ creative process, given that Integr Psych Behav (2018) 52:614–629 617 exploring this particular element, as it relates to the cultural and identity context, can help resolve diverse tensions of the kind reported by Mege. This search for resolution by means of a creative act has been addressed in the psychological study of creativity.