"People of the Land": Changing Land Ownership, Migration, and Identity of the Mapuche in Chile

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Shi, Xia

Area of Concentration

Social Sciences

Abstract

The Mapuche are an indigenous group that originally inhabited the south-central valleys of modern Chile. Today, the majority of the over one million Mapuche live in Chilean cities. They are known for their resistance to Spanish colonization in the 16th century, becoming one of the few indigenous groups in Latin America who maintained their autonomy then. Yet, they would eventually become Chilean citizens after the occupation and surrender of their territory in 1883. Most scholarship on Mapuche separately addresses issues of resistance, land occupation, identity, and displacement, often focusing on a particular time period. This thesis intends to examine the long-term historical changes to Mapuche land ownership, migration, and identity to demonstrate how the Mapuche negotiated and resisted various classifications and regulations imposed by colonial and nationalistic forces. It argues that the three issues of land ownership, migration, and identity are deeply interconnected and have historically been at the center of Mapuche struggles, thus being crucial to understanding their past and present. Despite centuries of oppression, the Mapuche have continuously negotiated and resisted imposed systems outside their indigenous norms, and in the process, they formed and strengthened their identity while adapting to the changing political circumstances of the time.

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