The Documentation of Chedungun and the Pewenche Highlands: Phase One

Abstract

This article provides a descriptive guide to the documentation of Chedungun, the regional variant of Mapudungun (ISO 639-2 code arn) that is spoken by the Pewenche people. The 15-hour documentation is currently deposited in the Endangered Language Archive (ELAR) and corresponds to Phase One of a long-term initiative that is currently progressing to a postdoctoral project (Phase Two). Both phases are supported and funded by the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme. Since the objective of the project is to document the endangered migratory lifestyle and language of the Pewenche people, we will reflect on how the territorial inaccessibility imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the project’s elemental strategy, which relied on several documentary journeys to the lands that are seasonally occupied by the Pewenche during the summer for transhumance purposes. We will show why the collaborative workflow sustained by self-documentation practices evolved from an auxiliary tool to a regular and essential element of the team’s current and future projects.