For the Mapuche, Chile’s largest Indigenous group and more than 10 percent of its population, a pristine river like the Truful Truful, flowing from a lava field under an Andean volcano, is the home of a spiritual force to revere, not a natural resource to exploit. That has led many Mapuche communities by the Truful Truful, the Pilmaiquen River and across the country’s water-rich south to fight hydroelectric plants that they see as desecrating nature and depriving Indigenous communities of essential energies that keep them from getting sick. But as Chile readies to vote on a new constitution highlighting Indigenous rights, spirituality and ideology get entangled.
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MELIPEUCO, Chile (AP) — Mist suddenly arose from the Truful Truful River as it flowed below the snow-covered Llaima volcano, and Victor Curin smiled at the sun-dappled water spray.