An ancient people faced with an age-old struggle.

Chile's indigenous Mapuche Indians are locked in battle with the country's government.

The heart of the conflict is in the southern region of Araucania, home to the country's logging industry — lands the Mapuche claim to have ancestral rights over.

Jorge Huenchullan is a Mapuche spokesman from Temucuicui.

[Jorge Huenchullan, Mapuche Community of Temucuicui]:
"The state has executed brutal violence against the Mapuches. Let's say it is systematic persecution. There is jailing. We know what it means to live on the run. We know what it is to have a brother behind bars."

The Chilean government has returned more than 650,000 hectares to the Mapuche, but has done little to ease tensions or address endemic problems like unemployment.

It recently passed an anti-terrorism law to prosecute dissidents.

Rising violence and its impact on the most vulnerable, has drawn sharp criticism from the U.N and Human Rights Watch.

The government has defended its actions claiming the Mapuche are using children as human shields.

Governor of the Malleco province, Jorge Saffirio.

[Jorge Saffirio, Malleco Provincial Governor]:
"We do not support violence. Our government's role is to maintain the public order and in particular the Ministry of the Interior. When that public order is in any way upset, well the perpetrators have to deal with the consequences."

The government denies it's targeting the Mapuche.

Currently there are five Mapuche prisoners charged under the anti-terrorism law.