Colegio Santa Cruz - Temuco

Prof. Ximena Escobar Presencia Transformadora

Taller de Inglés - 2023

Guia de aprendizaje N° 2
Traditions and festivities
Chilean Culture: The Mapuche We Tripantu celebration

Name Level I° Date

Objetivo de aprendizaje: Reconocer información central de textos escritos en contexto

relacionados con sus intereses para conocer la manera en que otras culturas abordan
dichos contextos.

We tripantu

Preparation:

1. Look for the meaning of these words and then write them under the picture.

Harvest Stream Dawn Sow

Historically June 24 marks the winter solstice, which in Chile means that the shortest
day of winter is upon us. From here on out, the days can only get brighter, a fact
that’s not lost on one of Chile’s most dominant indigenous communities, the
Mapuche people. The winter solstice coincides with the amazing celebration of We
Tripantu, where Mapuche communities up and down the length of Chile welcome the
birth of the new sun, it is something really meaningful for them.

What’s It All About?

For Chile’s indigenous Mapuche people, We Tripantu is a kind of New Year

celebration. The coming of the shortest day and the longest night symbolizes the end
of the harvesting period of the previous year and the beginning of the new sowing
cycle. According to the Mapuche vision of the world, the new sun is born in winter
and begins to grow throughout the spring before reaching the prime of its life at the
height of summer and fading away again as fall draws on. That’s what makes the winter solstice so powerful and important
and since it marks the moment of the sun’s rebirth.

“Sólo el amor despierta la vida” (Padre Teodosio)

Colegio Santa Cruz - Temuco
Prof. Ximena Escobar Presencia Transformadora
Taller de Inglés - 2023
Celebrations and Music

We Tripantu celebrations may officially begin with the winter solstice on the 21st of June but they well and truly kick off on
the evening of the 23rd of June, where family members and the extended community gather together around a fire or stove to
eat, drink and tell traditional stories. Folk music is played throughout the night on Mapuche instruments like the tructruca
horn, the pifilca flute and the cultrún drum. As the first birds begin to sing around dawn, people head down to nearby rivers
and streams to wash and cleanse away anything negative they’ve picked up throughout the year; disease, evil thoughts, bad
spirits... it all gets washed away with the river, leaving bathers ready to be renewed by the young sun as it rises for the first
time that year, and the faces of the people look wishful.

Food

Food is an important part of any celebration and We Tripantu is no exception. Meats - including chicken, pork, lamb, beef
and even horse - are roasted on the fire and traditional delicacies are prepared paciently. Those celebrating drink muday, a
cloudy alcoholic drink made from fermented maize or wheat and eat catutos (fried or boiled dough treats dipped in honey),
sopaipillas (deep-fried discs of pumpkin dough) and a kind of dense unleavened bread cooked in the embers of the fire. Mote,
made from boiled, husked wheat, is also eaten to celebrate We Tripantu.

Sport, games and dancing

Throughout the day of the 24th June, adults and children alike take part in games and dancing. Small children play awar
kuden, a betting game using colourful dried beans. Older children and teenagers play palín, a game similar to hockey where
two teams of five to fifteen players use curved sticks to hit a leather ball. All members of the community join in with
traditional Mapuche dances like the purrún and the mazatún.

2. According to the text answer the following questions:

a. When is “We Tripantu" celebrated? and which season it coincides with?

b. What kind of celebration “We Tripantu” is?

c. What is the meaning of the shortest day and the longest day?

d. When does this celebration begin?

e. What do they do in the rivers and streams?

f. Mention the drinks and food which they consume in this celebration.

g. What the game “palin” consist of?

3. Circle,underline or highlight. True or False for the following sentences. Justify if the statement is false.

“Sólo el amor despierta la vida” (Padre Teodosio)

Colegio Santa Cruz - Temuco
Prof. Ximena Escobar Presencia Transformadora
Taller de Inglés - 2023
a. The winter solstice is the longest day in the false true
year.

b. This celebration symbolizes the new harvest false true

c. The pifilca and the cultrún are kind of false true

guitars.

d. They celebrate with a lot of food. false true

e. The palín and hockey are alike. false true

4. Adjectives suffixed with -ful. Identify these kind of word from the text and then search for the meaning

Ex: Historically means historicamente.

5. Write your opinion about the text. Consider the following points:
● What information called your attention.
● Why this festivity is important for Mapuche people.
● Do you consider this celebration relevant for our country? why?

6. Choose 10-15 interesting words from the text and then write a short story using them. Or,
it could be a news report, poem, or another kind of written piece.

Reading text taken and adapted from : www.cascada.travel

“Sólo el amor despierta la vida” (Padre Teodosio)