DE SU BURBUJA - Vitis Magazine

C
uenta La tRaDiCión isleña que el archipiélago del
Maipo se formó gracias a la obstinada lucha de los mapuches
antes que llegasen los españoles. una vez, en medio
de un holgorio monumental, los caciques del Mapocho
habrían retado a los del Maipo a una competencia ecuestre.
La apuesta involucraba a los dos espejos de agua más
preciados del valle: pudahuel y aculeo. el ganador se quedaría con ambos, pero
el perdedor tendría que transportar el agua desde uno al otro, dejando seca su
antigua laguna. Los caciques del Maipo, representados por su mejor exponente,
ganaron la contienda y se quedaron con el premio. Los mapochanos, apesadumbrados,
debieron entonces recurrir a sus machis para que los ayudaran a
saldar la deuda y conservar así su honor; invocaron a los dioses para que levantaran
los vientos; la lluvia dejó de caer en el Mapocho, y las nubes se llevaron el
chubasco hacia el sur, trayendo consigo el agua hacia la laguna de aculeo. pero
en su paso, las nubes dudaron, y dejaron caer parte del agua a medio camino,
inundando los vados entre uno y otro río, quedando las pequeñas cimas de las
colinas a la vista, conformando un archipiélago que sería luego una nueva disputa
entre ambos territorios. Desde entonces, el Mapocho continúa pagando
su deuda con el Maipo, tributando año tras año sus aguas, manteniendo vivo el
recuerdo de esa contienda mitológica.
islA de MAiPo
FRoM CaCiQues
to euRopeans
In the early 20th century, this central valley area
found its viticultural heritage as a result of the
arrival of European immigrants who worked hard
to turn worthless lands into productive vineyards.
Thus, symbolic wineries that allowed Isla de Maipo
to be positioned as one of the major winegrowing
areas in the country were born.
As the islAnd tradition tells, the Maipo archipelago
was formed as a result of the stubborn fight by the
Mapuche people before the arrival of the spaniards.
once, amidst a huge binge, the caciques of the
Mapocho would have challenged Maipo caciques to
an equestrian competition. the bet involved the two
most precious water mirrors of the valley: Pudahuel
and Aculeo. the winner was to keep them both, but
the loser would have to carry water from one to the
other, thus drying up the old lagoon. Mapocho caciques
were defeated by Maipo cacique representatives
and so the latter obtained the prize. then, the sad
Mapocho people had to resort to their machis to
help them payoff the debt and thus preserve their
honor; they invoked gods to raise winds; rain stopped
falling over the Mapocho and the clouds took away
heavy showers to the south, bringing water to Aculeo
lagoon. however, when passing by, clouds hesitated
and dropped part of the water to the middle of the
road, flooding the fords between both rivers. the small
hilltops remained at sight, making up an archipelago
that would later give rise to a new dispute between
both territories. since then, the Mapocho remains
paying off its debt to the Maipo, paying tribute to its
waters year after year, which keeps the memory of such
mythological dispute alive.
Maipo islands are a geographical accident that has
already disappeared due to human action. originally,
the area of the river medium course, where it leaves
behind the flow carrying it from the high mountain
range, becomes calm allowing for the creation of a
phenomenon that specialists call “anastomosing”,
▼ Vitis Magazine l novieMbre 2008 l 65