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El Cofre de La Familia Husihuilke en-GB
El Cofre de La Familia Husihuilke en-GB
Los días del venado is one of the books in La Saga de los Confines, by
Argentinean author Liliana Bodoc. The chapter "Two visitors" describes the
ritual of the Husihuilke family. We suggest you read the following excerpt from
this chapter:
Each Husihuilke family kept a chest, handed down through the generations,
which the elders kept with them. Although it was just under two feet high, and a
small child could wrap his arms around it, it held memories of everything
important that had happened to the family lineage over time. When storytelling
nights came, they would turn the chest four full tumbles: first forwards, then
backwards, and finally to each side. Then the eldest would take out of the chest
the first thing his hand touched, without hesitation or choice. And that object,
evoking a memory, would point out the story to be told that year. Sometimes it
was about events they had not witnessed because they were much older than
themselves. However, they told it with the clarity of someone who had been
there. And in the same way, it was engraved in the memory of those who would
have to tell it, years later.
We invite you to think about the following slogans to guide their construction:
We propose that you bring these elements to build the chest of the graduating
class.
The Husihuilke family would open the chest in the evenings and, as the story
goes, 'turn the chest four full tumbles: first forwards, then backwards, and finally
to each side. Then the oldest would take out of the chest the first thing his hand
touched, without hesitation or choice'. Based on the way in which this ritual was
organised, we suggest that you organise the way in which the chest was
opened and share what was stored in it.