Microsoft Corporation isn’t making any friends in Chile after it rolled out a Windows software package in Mapudungun, the langauge of the Indigenous Mapuches who are mostly based in the south of the South American nation.

At the launch in the southern town of Los Sauces, Microsoft (Charts) said it wanted to help Mapuches embrace the digital age and “open a window so that the rest of the world can access the cultural riches of this indigenous people.”

But Mapuche tribal leaders have accused the U.S. company of violating their cultural and collective heritage by translating the software into Mapudungun without their permission.

They even sent a letter to Microsoft founder Bill Gates accusing his company of “intellectual piracy.”

What is most disturbing about the story (besides the mispelling of the native language which is most commonly written as Mapudungun – which I have written correctly here) is the claim from Mapuche leaders that they were not even consulted regarding the project, as if language could somehow be separated from culture. What is easy to misunderstand is that indigenous languages are not like languages like English or Spanish, that are widely spoken across cultures and nations. Language is a distinct marker that differentiates various tribes and indigenous ethnic identities.

The Mapuche took their case to a court in the southern city of Temuco earlier this month but a judge ruled it should be considered in Santiago. A judge in the capital is due to decide in the next two weeks whether Microsoft has a case to answer.

The case has sparked comment on Internet blogs. Many Chileans appear to feel it is absurd for the Mapuche to claim the intellectual rights to their language, and say the Indians should be pleased to see it used on the world wide Web.

This position taken by most Chileans is not really surprising considering the high levels of discrimination against the Mapuche and other indigenous groups in Chile. “Indian” is considered a negative and I’m actually surprised to see it used in the original CNN article.

Full disclosure: my daughter is half-Mapuche.

Via / CNNMoney.com
Image Via / Hispamp3.com