The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music

1
The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music

• Part Three Nations and Musical Traditions, South
  America, Mapuche

2
Overview

• Mapuche
• Several heterogeneous Amerindian communities in
  Chile and Western Argentina
• United through language, trade, and war (Incan
  and Spanish incursions)
• Cosmology and ritual practices a result of
  centuries of inter-cultural contact
• Contemporary social structure reflects continuing
  legacy and experience of Encounter

3
Musical Instruments

• Pre-Colombian Mapuche Instruments
• Similar to those of other Amerindian communities
  throughout Lat/Am in type, construction, and
  function
• Stone, wood, clay, cane, and bone flutes and
  panpipes (i.e., the pitucahue and pifülka)
• Trumpets made of conch shells or horns (i.e., the
  trutruka)
• Rattles, rasps, and other idiophones
• Constructed from available natural resources
• Reflect connection with Mapuche cosmology (i.e.,
  the Kultrún)

4
Contexts and Genres

• Vocal genres
• Tayil
• Linked with Mapuche beliefs concerning the soul
  and ancestors
• Exclusive domain of woman
• Associated with life-giving power of women
• Central to Mapuche process of ritual and healing
• Means of bridging past and present, enabling
  communication with ancestors
• Consists of four melodic phrases
• Unique to particular lineage invoked
• Distinguished by specific melodic contours and
  coded syllables
• Each phrase performs specific function
• Corresponds to particular sphere of time and
  place
• Other genres
• Generally associated with dance
• Reflect influence of European and mestizo culture
• Often performed in ritual contexts
• Include öl, romancero, kantún

5
Music and Healing

• Mapuche beliefs and music
• Carol Robertson notes that Mapuche healing
  rituals involving music developed within a
  conceptual framework that perceives sound as
  central to the movement and balance of the
  universe, the community, and the individual (p.
  412)
• Consider this statement in relation to the
  musical traditions of other Amerindian
  communities discussed in this book (i.e., the
  Kuna, Tarahumara, Warao, Qeros, etc.)
• Questions for discussion
• What role does music play in healing rituals
  observed among the Mapuche and other Amerindian
  groups?
• How might the use of tayil constitute a form of
  healing?
• How might the Mapuche tayil be significant in the
  context of post-Encounter Latin America?
• How might the tayil relate to other traditions in
  Latin America (Amerindian or otherwise) that come
  to represent/express a particular group identity?