Learning about other cultures
There is a growing tendency in tourism: visiting Native communities and living with customs quite different from those of somebody who lives in the city. This kind of trip is usually referred to as cultural tourism.
Junín de los Andes, the oldest locality in the Province of Neuquén, is probably the place in Patagonia where this kind of tourist trip has become most popular.
As in the rest of the region, one you get to know the customs of the Mapuches, who used to occupy the entire lands of this beautiful part of Argentina, before the arrival of the Europeans.
Communities to visit
Basically two: Painefilú and Cañicul. You can arrive at the first after doing the Mapuche Circuit. From Junín, you must take Provincial Road Nº 23 and after driving for 17 kilometers, turn left and border the Malleo, an ideal river for sport fishing. In the area of the Painefilú community it is possible to camp, do horse-riding, fish and, of course, taste delicious goat’s meat and tortas fritas (fritters). It is also possible to buy handicrafts and get into direct contact with everything related to the regional Indian culture.
Cañicul community is on the north bank of Huechulafquen lake, which is located 22 kilometers from Junín de los Andes. During the journey, you can see the Chimehuin river, the Fish Farming Center, where research on how to preserve and enhance the trout resource is carried out, and the entrance to Lanín National Park. Cañicul community is formed by Paillalafquen, Antín, Figueroa, and Barriga families, among others. There, on the north bank of the water mirror, there are many areas for free or organized camping where visitors can stay, and three inns that open during the fishing season, generally from November to April.
Anyway, if the idea is just to visit the Mapuches, you can stay in Junín de los Andes, where there is a wide variety of accommodation available.
There is no need to say that this region is in the midst of landscapes of spectacular beauty.
Past, Present and more tourism to Mapuche culture
one of the Patagonian
Mapuche communities.
Brief historical background: let’s remember that the arrival of Europeans in the Indian Patagonia took place a few decades after Columbus’ first arrival to the continent. Hernán de Magallanes was the “discoverer”, back in 1520. After him, others would follow, all with failed attempts to settle in the area; the only successful attempt would be in Carmen de Patagones, the oldest locality in Patagonia and one of the oldest in the country. Only in 1865 would the Welsh settlers get to the coasts of Chubut to definitely stay there. And in 1879, the famous “Conquest of the desert” would begin, wiping out almost completely the Indians of the region.
But even so, the Mapuches still constitute one of the largest Indian groups of the country. They were not the original inhabitants. They arrived from the South of Chile some centuries ago, attracted by the fauna, and were able to dominate the Tehuelches, who were earlier settlers of the region. In some parts of the Patagonian territory, it is still possible to see the trace of those primitive peoples who lived here thousands of years ago.
Most of the Indians living in Patagonia are now in the towns. But there are also reservations or communities where they still keep their customs, are owners of parts of their lands and struggle to defend them. There is one in the Province of Chubut, the one of Rosario Lake, with a very interesting history, which sums up the humiliations the Indians were forced to endure until late in the last century. For those interested in cultural tourism, not far from there is the Leleque museum, where several elements and rooms give testimony of Tehuelche and Mapuche history.
More examples: Not long ago, in San Martín de los Andes, more precisely at the foot of the famous ski mount Chapelco, a community managed to call attention as they claimed that sewage and garbage from the winter resort should not end up at their front door, among the imposing hillsides. And near the capital city of Neuquén, at Loma de la Lata, there are Mapuche communities still fighting so that Latin America’s biggest gas field, built under their lands, does not contaminate their water tables with gas oil.