The small fishing settlement of Puerto Edén is nestled on Wellington Island in southern Chile, among a labyrinth of islets and fjords at least a day’s journey from the nearest city. But the distance and Patagonian cold have not discouraged generations of scientists from making the trip. Puerto Edén is home to some of the Kawésqar, descendants of nomadic seafarers. Their culture, territory, the remains of their ancestors, and their dying language have all drawn academic interest.
“We will no longer be the guinea pigs,” says Elisa Loncón, a Mapuche linguist at the University of Santiago and former president of the constitutional convention. “And we will not be a hindrance to knowledge either.” The new constitution isn’t explicit about research with Indigenous communities. But it could encourage a more collaborative approach that considers local and ancestral knowledge, says microbiologist Cristina Dorador Ortiz, a member of the constitutional convention that wrote it.
The proposed constitution could help set the stage, although polls suggest its initial high popularity has recently fallen. But even if it fails, other efforts are ongoing. In March, a mostly Chilean team including Tonko Huenucoy and Silva Gallardo published a paper inthat magnify any genetic differences between Indigenous people and other Chileans.
Publishing restrictions would be “censorship,” says Ricardo Verdugo, a human population geneticist also at UCh Santiago. But he thinks a new paradigm is needed. Indigenous communities are “the first ones that have the right to have a voice,” he says. “What to ask, why ask it, and how I’m going to interpret [and] communicate it, is something that absolutely requires [their] opinion.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.