Stories from Around the World

Juan de Dios Guala

Compiled by: Viviana Badilla
Submitted with Permission by: Adriana Vilella

My Grandfather Juan de Dios Guala, was born in 1896 in a place called Llamuer, located in the department of Alumine, in the province of Neuquen (Argentina). His mother was Juana Samponia who was the daughter of a chief from a tribe. His father was Pedro Angel Huala, who was the son of a chief of a different tribe.

The two tribes were not on good terms and the future chiefs were not allowed to choose the wives they wanted. They had to accept the wives or husbands the chiefs chose for them. So, Juana and Pedro were not allowed to get married. The father recognized the son and gave him his name but did not meet him. The mother abandoned the baby. Chiefs were like kings, they had many wives, but it was the mother's duty to look after the sons. Juan was found by a woman who brought him up in indigenous tribes located in Junin de los Andes. She told Juan his story.

When he was five or six he started working in a community of white people whose surname was Prieto and he stayed there for seven years. In those times the province of Neuquen did not exist , the whole region was called Patagonia and the governor was Carlos Bouquet Roldan. Juan did not understand much of politics but he was concerned about the welfare of the region and he came on business to Champala, - now Zapala, which in Mapuche means "swamp". He was a friend of the Zingoni family, of the Sarqui family, and Nadir Sapag who gave him a job for a while.

At 13, Guala went to work as a rural worker to the "estancia" (ranch) of Mr. Rambeaud, that is situated near the village of Las Coloradas. At 18 he registered himself as an Argentinian citizen and got his national I.D. He was illiterate and he made a mistake, confusing "H" with "G", that's why his surname changed from Huala to Guala. After many years he decided to go back to his tribe in Alumine, but he was not accepted because of the change of his surname . The chief Huala destituted him of all his belongings and dismissed him. He left full of hatred and resentment and went back to the estancia of Mr. Rambeaud.

In 1916 he was called to do the military service and he was sent to Buenos Aires. After a year he went back to Zapala . The governor was then Eduardo Elordi and he got a job in the railway station. One day he was invited to a Nguillatun (the religious ceremony of the mapuche). There he met Margarita Morales. Margarita Morales was the daughter of a white couple that had been held in captivity by the tribe Quinchao since the time of the conquest, - what was called the conquest of the desert, a campaign under General Roca, whose main objective was to take the land from the indigenous people and to subdue them. White people held in captivity were wounded in their feet on purpose so that they could not escape. Margarita suffered a lot there and was not happy so Juan decided to kidnap her and take her to a better place to live. They went to Covunco, previously called Covnco (a place which in mapuche means warm waters). There they married and had nine children, three boys and six girls. Juan didn't want his sons to be illiterate so he talked to the chief of the place to bring a teacher to the region. The chief didn't want young people to know more than old people and refused, so Juan Guala left the place and went to Covunco Arriba where there was a rural school and the teacher, Mr. Romero, helped him and his family. Because he was a Mapuche he was given a land next to the river by the law. But his difficult early life did not help him in his family life. He drunk and hit his family. Little by little all his sons left home. The girls went to family houses to work as servants. In 1975 he went back home, but after some months Margarita, his wife, got ill and died. He went on drinking and due to that he lost the land and all his belongings. He started wandering around till an Espinosa family hired him to look after their farm. They helped him to receive a salary as retirement for old people from the government.

After a time, he started looking for his sons, and by chance he found my mother (his seventh girl). He was old and ill. My mother, Rosa, looked after him and took him to hospital where he was operated on. After the operation he came back to our house, but he didn't feel comfortable in the city, he wanted to go back to the country. At that time, my father, Raul, bought a farm and we took him there. He was 93 then, and he was born again. He was very happy to be there. He taught us, all his grandchildren, all the magic of the nature. But then, a cousin took him to the capital city of the province, thinking that he would be better. He was not. After six months he returned, but by that time he had gone back to drinking and to wandering in the streets. Mummy took him again, she looked after him, but he was very ill, sad, old and had the rebellious character of a child. He was taken to hospital,and one afternoon I went to look after him and I found him singing. The song talked about God who was coming to fetch him. Mummy came and stayed with him till he died. His last words were "thank you Pochita", my mother, who looked after him and never abandoned him.