Mapuche schoolteacher Victor Carilaf has teamed up with Chilean artist Fiestoforo to create Kimeltuwe, a collective that has released sets of emojis to represent indigenous peoples of Latin America. Part of the project promotes the Mapudungun language—an indigenous language spoken by the Mapuche people in Chile and Argentina. Part of the project is depicting local languages, with descriptions of emotions like kümelekan for “I am well,” küpa umawün for “I am tired,” and kutrankülen for “I am sick,” among many others. Right now, the emojis can be used as images or stickers that can be shared in texting, comments, or messaging, and Kimeltuwe is looking toward news ways to integrate the emojis into different messaging platforms.
