“….El agua no está solo…” Sequía, cenizas y la contada mapuche sobre la Sumpall

Abstract

In 2011 part of the argentine Patagonia was covered with ashes following the eruption of the Puyehue volcano. A cloud of ashes reached one of the several Mapuche communities in Neuquén and complicated the situation in the field, where they also live with a worrying drought. These phenomena were experienced as epitomes of uncertainties and restlessness of rural life. Here we discuss all this connected to the ngïtram (“story”) of the Sumpall, spirit master of the water. We analyze political senses and "other" logics when defining and acting on these phenomena/ problems through traditional practices and Mapuche ancestral knowledge.