Mapuche society and Chilean society: the historical debt

Abstract

The article presents an historical view of Mapuche society and the "ethnic" link; and on the other hand refers to the various ways of understanding "Chile", to then examine the issue whether there exists a "historic debt " to Mapuche society. Remarks that with the advent of the Republic, the Mapuche were no longer seen as a people or nation, and began to be treated as Chileans, thus ending the colonial policy of parliaments. Against this, the Mapuche society failed to articulate a common front to face the new historical moment. It adds that the "Pacification of Araucania" and "reductional policies" worked not as a project of "inclusion", but of "exclusion". After presenting the recent approaches of governments with regard to the subject, and of historians Gonzalo Vial, Vitale and Perez, concludes with a proposal that means parting from the dominant culture, and developing a policy "sensitive to differences.