Del proyecto al compromiso: interculturalidad y agencias entre colectivos mapuche y políticas públicas en extensión universitaria

Abstract

In this article we will introduce our thoughts on the work we have been carrying out with mapuche organizations, study groups, mapuche communities and members of the Universidad Nacional de Río Negro about the Extension Project named “Promotion, systematization and visibilization of transmissions of mapuche culture, memory and language experiences in Viedma, Patagones and Bariloche as spaces of intercultural work and elaboration: Müley iñ mishawael kimün”.The project was fundamentally proposed to propitiate the participation of its members in mapuzugun learning spaces in order to bring light to the importance and complexity of those processes within the University. Based on our experiences, we pose how this participation implied the learning of the ma-puche language, and also the reclaiming and strengthening of the bonds shared as a People. This strengthening of the social bonds was expressed on daily circumstances and in the face of the physical and violent aggression experienced by the Buenuleo Mapuche Community -participant of this project- in the context of their land reclaiming struggles. This situation mobilized our project participant from differents places and constituted a relevant accompanying to the lof. From this understanding, the community solicited the project that we take on the work of summoning the University authorities to attend a meeting where they would discuss their needs regarding how to look after the community’s children amids the violen-ce suffered. Faced to the lack of response given by the University authorities, we reflect on the boundaries of this experience to put a question to the University as an institution and, proposing a correlation to it conceiving the extension practices more as an assistance con-ception rather than a transforming one.