Day 12

The fallen kingdom

Here's a story worth telling:

In 1858, a French man named Orélie-Antoine de Tounens crossed the Atlantic, passed Cape Horn, into the Pacific, and arrived in Coquimbo, Chile. He lived in Santiago for a few years, learning Spanish, and forming social connections with the country's political elite. After this, Orélie-Antoine moved to Auracania, the region in which Temuco is, home of the Mapuche. He pledged himself to the cause of the Mapuche, and used his knowledge as a lawyer to defend the case that the Mapuche nation was de facto independent from both the states of Chile and Argentina. The Mapuche chiefs, the 'longkos', took a real liking to this foreigner, and begun to involve him more and more in their political life. Orélie-Antoine would later write in his memoirs that at that time, he already had the vision of uniting all the Mapuche tribes that lived in the Auracania and Patagonia regions, and creating a single Mapuche nation, which would later be rallied to France and given the status of a protectorate.

What happened was not so far from that. On the 17th November 1860, during an assembly with many Mapuche chiefs, Orélie-Antoine declares the existence of the 'kingdom of Araucania', and is elected as the king of this kingdom (later sources challenge this, saying that he was not elected, but auto-proclaimed). King Orélie-Antoine draws the first official borders of his kingdom, and goes up to Santiago, to inform the Chilean government that it is no longer in possession of the region of Auracania. There, he is ignored. He tries to get the help of the French government, but after some enquiries, the French consul in Chile declares him insane. Antoine returns to Auracania, with the intention of preparing the Mapuches for battle against the Chilean army. He is arrested, and deported back to France in 1862. Orélie-Antoine attempts to come back to Auracania twice, but would be stopped in Argentina both times, and deported back to France. Today, on his tomb in his native village of Tourtoirac in the Dordogne region are written the following inscriptions: 'Antoine de Tounens, ex-roi d’Araucanie et de Patagonie'.

As a joke, our host Jacqueline told some of the members of her community that we were the descendants of king Orélie-Antoine, and that we had come to Auracania to claim back the throne. The Mapuche found this idea very entertaining.

In reality, king Orélie-Antoine's legacy stretches far further than one might expect. Since he was first deported back to France in 1862, he proclaimed himself to be a king in exile, and declared the village of Tourtoignac as being part of the kingdom of Auracania. This 'ghost kingdom' has never been officially recognised by any state, and has inspired many writers and historians.

Despite this, it remains the case that to this day, the descendants of Aurelie-Antoine still consider themselves the legitimate rulers of the Auracania, and entertain strong links with many Mapuche communities. Our host's husband Joel knew someone from his home community who had gone to France to meet with Jean-Michel Parasiliti di Para, reigning as prince Antoine IV, the current head of household for the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia.

On top of this, there is since 1965 an association named 'Auspice Stella', which aims to support the efforts of the Mapuche people in their struggle for autonomy, and promote the memory of the kingdom of Auracania and its founder Aurélie-Antoine. The association was founded in Tourtoirac, and in 2013, it obtained special status as a non-governmental organisation in the UN. Since then it has made various appearances in front of the UN's human rights counsel to defend the cause of the Mapuche, and denounce the injustices they have suffered at the hand of the Chilean government.

Friday 30th of June was our last day in Temuco, and marked the end of our project. As we thanked our hosts for their kindness and hospitality, we promised them that we would travel to Tourtoirac to meet Antoine IV, prince of the phantom kingdom and descendent of the first king of the Mapuche. There, we will do our best to obtain nobility for the professor Jacqueline Caniguan, and, should the opportunity present itself, knighthood for ourselves!