Leuwang

Write it badly or it'll never be written

Write it badly or it'll never be written

Write it badly or it'll never be written

Write it badly or it'll never be written

“The Witches’ Cauldron in Russia”

— Johan Braakensiek, 1905

Almost a year has passed since Julia del Carmen Chuñil Catricura, a 72-year-old Mapuche elder and community leader, disappeared in Máfil, southern Chile.

She was last seen on November 8, 2024, walking with her dog Cholito to check on livestock and care for her land. She never returned. Now, we have confirmation that she has been murdered.

Julia was more than a victim of disappearance, she was a dedicated defender of Indigenous Mapuche lands and culture. As president of the Putreguel Indigenous Community, she led the protection of approximately 2220 acres of native forest, an area known as “Reserva Cora Número Uno-A.” She worked tirelessly to preserve biodiversity, raise livestock sustainably, and safeguard the rights and heritage of her people. Julia was also a mother of five and a grandmother of ten, an elder deeply respected in her community.

As it usually happens with indigenous women, her work was not without risk. Since 2015, she and her family report threats and intimidation linked to attempts to seize or exploit her land.

At the moment of her and her 3-month-old sheepdog Cholito's disappearance, tire marks from an unknown pickup truck were reportedly found near her property, which made her family suspect foul play was involved.

Recently, lawyers representing Julia’s family revealed that in a court-approved phone interception, suspect Juan Carlos Morstadt (owner of an agricultural, livestock, and forestry company, descendant of German settlers who came to Valdivia, south of Chile, and started exploiting indigenous land for economic profit) was allegedly recorded saying “they burned her” in at least two conversations. The lawyers say they located a prosecutor’s memo referencing these intercepted calls, but after requesting more information, they were reportedly blocked from accessing the Prosecutor’s Office online case portal.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has called on Chile to intensify search and investigative efforts, and the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH) is monitoring the case. Yet, nearly a year later, Julia’s family and community still have no answers.

Julia Chuñil’s disappearance is not just a tragedy, and it's not the first time an indigenous person has been murdered in Chile. Camilo Catrillanca was killed by the Chilean police. Matías Catrileo was killed by the police too. Jaime Mendoza Collío was murdered too by the police. The same police that dismissed Julia's family's concerns about her disappearance. The same police that historically has NEVER protected mapuches.

She was murdered. She deserves justice. Her family deserves the truth. The Mapuche people and all Indigenous communities deserve safety and recognition of their rights. WALLMAPU LIBRE. MARICHI WEU.

Say her name, JULIA CHUÑIL CATRICURA.

DON'T STAY SILENT ABOUT INDIGENOUS WOMEN.

Pages from an illuminated manuscript of The Book of the Law by Steffi Grant (Soror Ilyarun) (1944).

These little dudes are not only chillin' but also warming themselves in heated cubbies to help them beat a fungal infection!!

Photo from the article in Science.

as hell! Idk how many of you are familiar with chytrid fungi, but they cause a nasty disease in amphibians called chytridiomycosis, where the fungus infected and spreads across the skin. Amphibians both breathe and absorb water through their skin, so once the infection spreads enough it makes it difficult for them to breathe and drink. It's often deadly and has been introduced all over the world, likely from people releasing captive amphibians into the wild. Research has linked chytridiomycosis to the extinction of over 90 species, and is considered one of the primary causes of the global amphibian population crisis we're fighting.

Worst of all, there is no cure viable enough to use on wild populations.

This 'hothouse' method, if it continues to prove effective, would be a cheap and easily-implemented tool to help wild frogs cure themselves!! This could help save dozens -- if not hundreds -- of species from extinction!