For Mapuche communities, We Tripantu is an opportunity to come together and tell traditional stories and play music through the night. Come dawn, everyone goes down to a nearby river or stream to wash away everything negative from the previous year. They then are renewed, like the new sun to face a new year.
The Mapuche were traditionally an agricultural people. Their lives were very connected to the growing seasons and We Tripantu was a way to celebrate this. In other parts of Chile it has come to be an opportunity to celebrate indigenous people in general and to learn more about the cultures that came before us. For most Chileans, the Mapuche's traditional lifestyle and beliefs are far from their own. The majority of Chileans live in Santiago which is a huge modern city full of cars, TVs and everything you are used to in America. We Tripantu is an opportunity to remember a different way of life. This is especially importortant to Chileans because their are stilll many Mapuche living in a very traditional way and trying preserving their culture.
The celebration of We Tripantu in Valparaíso is very much done in a Valparaíso way. People here love parades so We Tripantu here takes the form of an all-day parade that snakes around the city. Groups of people prepare dances and battle cries for months and then parade around the city. In many ways, the event becomes somewhat of a party in Valparaíso, as pretty much every other event does.
