[2] He has been referred to as the lonco, or chieftain, of Mapudungun poetry, and works at recording and preserving the oral tradition of his people.
"Elicura" is from the Mapudungun phrase for "transparent stone", "Chihuailaf" means "fog spread on the lake", and "Nahuelpán" is "tiger/cougar".
In his book Recado Confidencial a los Chilenos, he talks about a childhood around the bonfire, in which he learnt the art of conversation ("nvtram") and the advice of the elderly ("gulam").
This need to express his cultural richness, diverse in itself, made him become an Oralitor, that is, carrier of the oral expression of the Mapuche elderly, this destiny being told by means of "Blue Dreams" (Kallfv Pewma): This will be a singer, you said / giving me the Blue Horse of the Word.
In Recado Confidencial a los Chilenos, the poet presents a deeply felt defense of Mother Nature, whom the Mapuche consider threatened by the dominant culture: post-modern capitalism.