The winter solstice is the time of year when the tilt of the Earth brings one hemisphere to its furthest point from the Sun. In the southern hemisphere this event takes place between June 20 and 23 and for much of of us, marks the beginning of winter, rains and low temperatures.
But for the nine native peoples of Chile (Aimaras, Quechuas, Atacameños, Collas, Diaguitas, Rapanuís, Kawésqar, Yaganes and Mapuches) this moment has a different interpretation related to the renewal of a cycle in nature , explains the doctor in Human Geography, Hugo Romero-Toledo , professor at the Department of Anthropology at the Catholic University of Temuco.
The beginning of winter is rather the approach to spring, the beginning of renewal, of the germination of plants, of gradually and slowly longer days, where the forests change and the rivers are transformed.
The new year or festival of the Sun has its original name for each culture; Machaq Mara or Willkakuti (Aymara), Inti Raymi (Quechua), Likan Antai (Kunza), Huata Mosoj (Colla), Aringa Ora or Koro (Rapanui) and We Tripantu (Mapudungun). The same festival took the name of San Juan Night after the conquest and the same event is celebrated in one way or another throughout the world and in all cosmogonies.
At Cordillerana we promote traditional Chilean crafts, techniques and objects, many of them inherited from the native peoples and their connection with nature. We invite you to celebrate this time however you want, by making bonfires, with offerings to nature, hot chocolate or putting potatoes under your bed.