machitun

Machitun comes from Mapudungun—the language of the Mapuche people of southern Chile and Argentina—machi, 'healer' or 'shaman,' and tun, 'action' or 'ceremony.' A machitun is a traditional Mapuche healing ritual performed by the machi (also spelled machi or machihueno). The ceremony is comprehensive: the machi diagnoses the patient's spiritual and physical ailment, identifies which spirit or ancestor is causing it, and performs ritual acts to restore balance. The drumming of the kultrun (a sacred drum) accompanies the entire performance.

The Mapuche have inhabited south-central Chile for at least 10,000 years. The machitun has been part of their medical and spiritual practice for centuries. The ceremony often lasts several hours and involves the patient's family, the community, and the machi in ritual dialogue. Herbs are burned or prepared as medicine. The machi moves into a state of heightened awareness, sometimes trance, to diagnose the ailment. The diagnosis determines the treatment.

Spanish colonialism attempted to suppress the machitun, labeling it witchcraft or demonic practice. The Mapuche resisted these efforts more successfully than many Indigenous populations. The machitun continued in rural areas and remained central to Mapuche identity. In the 20th century, Chile's health system began recognizing the existence of traditional healers and the machitun alongside Western medicine.

Today, the machitun is practiced in Mapuche communities across Chile and Argentina. Some machi work alongside Western doctors. The ceremony is described in anthropological literature and taught in some medical schools in Chile as an example of alternative healing systems. The word machitun—action by the healer—reflects a philosophy that healing is performative and communal, not isolated in a clinic.