Temuko, Chile, marzo 1990

by José A. Mariman

After 16 years of dictatorship, Chile returned to democracy at the beginning of 1990. The government of Patricio Aylwin (1990-1994) has created a context of guarantees, political rights and freedoms favorable to social movements and political action. The same is true for indigenous groups, -especially with respect to their mobilization around specific demands and claims- and in general for the development of a political movement of an ethnic character, capable of questioning the situation of domination which confronts the Mapuche people, the principle indigenous minority of Chile.

The Aylwin administration has indicated its willingness to offer solutions to the problems which face the country's indigenous populations. Unlike the military regime of Augusto Pinochet, various structures and mechanisms have been created for the participation of the interested sectors (Comisión Especial de Pueblos Indígenas). But the solution of the "indigenous problem" continues to be dealt with "by" and "from" the State; the State itself has defined the limits and set the framework of indigenous people's participation.¹

As usual, the Mapuche question has been handled by a law (Ley 19.253, passed 5 Oct., 1993), a "more just" law, or at least more adequate than previous laws, but still according to the framework created by the central government. This has been understood by of the majority of the Mapuche organizations, who have sought to obtain the most favorable legislation possible, according to their own perceptions of the situation.

The new "Ley Indígena", however, as advanced as it may be, will not resolve the problem of domination and subordination of the Mapuche people by the Chilean nation-state. Whatever its character, such legislation will do no more than reproduce and reformulate the relations of dependence on the dominant society, although it may resolve or palliate some of its effects. If we consider the problem of relations of domination/subordination with the intent of overcoming its root causes in all the areas in which they appear, another approach is possible, at least with respect to the Mapuche. This alternative is the decentralization of the State (recently a very popular theme) and a Statute of Regional Autonomy for the IXth region of Chile, region historically considered Mapuche.

The Mapuche Issue

1. The Mapuche issue as an indigenous issue arises with the Chilean conquest of Araucania.

The conquest, or "pacification" of the Araucania, between 1862 and 1883, meant the political subjugation of theMapuche population by the Chilean State. This subjugation had, as its first effect, the transformation of the Mapuche into an ethnic minority within the Chilean society. Brought about through military conquest, such subjugation deprived the Mapuche people of all autonomy. Denied recognition of their political and cultural rights as an ethnic group different from the rest of the national population, the Mapuche became an oppressed national minority in the heart of the Chilean nation-state.

The occupation and transformation of the Araucania into a territory for colonization meant -for the Mapuche- the sacking of their cattle herds (until then the basis of the Mapuche economy)and the expropriation of most of their lands -especially the best-, a process which continues to this day. This material loss, with the consequent condemnation of the Mapuche to the most exploited and marginal sectors of Chilean society, makes the Mapuche a colonized people: that is to say, not only materially exploited, but also socially marginalized and discriminated against as an ethnic group. Recognized as a separate and distinct people and discriminated as such in social interactions, the Mapuche are denied the recognition of their identity as a distinct people in the context of political relations. As this colonial domination arises within the framework of the Chilean nation-state, where the Mapuche have the same individual rights as any Chilean citizen, it is not identical to a "classical" colonial situation (of the pre-independence era), but rather corresponds to a situation of internal colonialism.²

With the occupation of the Araucanía, then, the Mapuche cease to be an independent people and become an oppressed and colonized national-ethnic minority, subjected to a system of domination. This situation of subordination and dependence with regards to the nation-state and the dominant society is expressed in every area: political, economic, social, cultural and ideological. This dependence constitutes one of the principle mechanisms for the reproduction and perpetuation of the situation of domination and marginality of the ethnic group.

The Mapuche situation expresses a contradiction -and therefore a conflict- within the Chilean society. As an ethnic question, it has a specific character. While it is certainly linked and related to other issues (such as, for example, class), in no case can it be reduced or subordinated to any of these other issues.

For the State, the solution to the "indigenous problem" -the problem presented by the existence of a colonized and ethnically differentiated population- is, obviously, "national integration", or in other words, assimilation.

2. A people invaded, conquered and colonized, there has been no decolonization for the Mapuche.

Political domination, with its corollary of judicial measures over these last hundred years, has set in motion aprocess which, through economic, social, cultural and ideological mechanisms, has brought the Mapuche to a situation of marginality and decomposition as an ethnic group. The successive "indigenous laws" have had no other goal than to make these mechanisms more efficient and assimilation smoother, and thus resolve the "indigenous problem". It is important to remember, in this respect, that -in contrast to the reservation system in the United States- the Mapuche reservations ("reducciones") were meant at first to be a temporary measure.

Nonetheless, these assimilationist measures have operated in a contradictory manner. In general, they have favored national-ethnic assimilation; but in some cases, they have actually limited such assimilation, even reinforcing Mapuche identity and reproducing the culture.

Although, ever since the conquest of the Araucanía, both the will and the effort of the State to assimilate the Mapuche have been constant, the results have been inconclusive. Confronted with two contradictory goals -to colonize the territory and to assimilate the Mapuche population- the State did not proceed with a coherent policy.³ In order to free lands for colonization after the "pacification", the State had to concentrate the Mapuche population on reservations or "reductions", where geographic isolation was combined with economic and social isolation. Thus, without intending to, the State created the appropriate conditions for the reproduction of a specifically Mapuche culture: concentration of the population and cultural isolation. This culture continues to exist, despite the transformations which it has undergone as a result of contact with and subordination to the dominant society.

Cultural assimilation was thus blocked, but at what price? The "reduction" of the Mapuche meant their transformation from free cattle-farmers into poor peasants, living with a subsistence economy at the margin of any economic integration and thus inhibiting their real social integration. Language and other cultural traits, as well as their own social organization -the community- were maintained in the reservation society, but at the cost of economic deprivation, social marginalization and a rural exodus.

The poor quality and limited extension of the lands left to the Mapuche made crop rotation difficult and lead to the exhaustion of the soil and severe erosion, especially in the central and northwestern parts of Araucanía. Demographic growth and further loss of lands through both legal and illegal means has caused a constantly greater rural exodus, affecting especially the youth.

This rural exodus has led to the development of an increasingly significant urban mapuche population. From a sociological viewpoint, therefore, the Mapuche issue can no longer be reduced to a purely rural or peasant issue. The urban Mapuche, and especially those born and raised in the cities, face a different sort of pressures from the dominant culture, in a newcontext -the city- and thus represent a specific "problematique" within the overall ethnic issue.⁴

The Mapuche who have moved to the city have arrived there because of two forces: the expulsion from the communities which can no longer support the Mapuche population even at a subsistence level, and the attraction of the city as a place where they might achieve better economic and social status. Their social and economic integration, however, is limited by their low degree of formal schooling and lack of job training. Relegated to the most exploited sectors of society -or simply marginalized- the Mapuche also have to face racial discrimination (not simply economic or class based), often disguised but with real effects, and not directed solely at those of peasant origin. ⁵

Although it is difficult to speak of open "oppression" of the Mapuche, this hidden form is no less effective: it is the very individual who ends up rejecting, apparently "spontaneously", his or her cultural inheritance in order to conform better with the model proposed/imposed by the dominant society and win social acceptance which often remains illusory despite such efforts.

A common dilemma of ethnic minorities subject to situations of discrimination and socio-economic marginalization is the difficulty of retaining their most educated members, already quite scarce. The few individuals who achieve a level of education which permits them to attain greater economic or social integration, attempt to separate themselves permanently from their original ethnic group. Their cultural inheritance appears, to them, to be linked to the misery and marginalization they knew as children, and to the discrimination which they continue to face despite their current status.

3. The conditions which allowed the survival of the Mapuche culture after the Chilean conquest no longer exist or are in crisis.

Through usurpation, sales and "leasing", the colonization of the Mapuche territory continues. Some areas which had a population exclusively or at least mostly Mapuche, are being colonized bit by bit; at the same time, more and more Mapuche are to be found in the cities and outside of the region, where their condition as a minority becomes even worse, accentuated by dispersion and socio-cultural isolation.

The rural exodus is, in effect, a regional migration, since it is not only a movement away from the rural area, but also away from the IXth Region, to Santiago. As they lose their lands and leave the region, the Mapuche are losing the territorial space where they developed historically as a free,independent and distinct people, and where, even after the "pacification", they managed to reproduce their culture. Bit by bit, the Mapuche are becoming a minority even in their own land.

At the same time, roads and schools have broken the geographical and cultural isolation; all that remains is poverty and marginalization. At first the Mapuche language and culture were excluded from any position of power and relegated to the periphery of society, the reservations; today those very reservations are being affected by the logic of economic evolution -amply assisted by political measures- and fragmented from within.

In this context, an attempt to return to traditional culture is a mere illusion. A culture of poverty and marginality, the Mapuche culture cannot be recovered and recreated by trying to preserve it intact, or as an empty expression of folklore. This culture can only be recovered and recreated by enriching it: a non-marginal Mapuche culture will no longer be the same as the Mapuche culture of today.

Nor does the city, today, offer a context in which the Mapuche culture might develop. Those who migrate to the city do not teach the language (mapudungun) to their children, since in the city this language no longer has a social purpose. Thus, the language is lost by the second generation in the city. Relegated to the rural and domestic context, mapudungun is still spoken in the countryside, but for how long? Even there, the maintenance of the language is seen as an obstacle to social integration, and therefore parents do not teach mapudungun to their children. They consider it preferable for their children to leave this socio-linguistic ghetto, rather than to be speakers of mapudungun, an easily identified and stigmatized cultural trait which only increases discrimination.

Under these conditions, the teaching of mapudungun in the schools, or its use in restricted administrative situations like courts and hospitals, is of no avail if the language does not have its own place in the functioning of regional society, a place which grants it a high value through official recognition and respect. Above all, it is necessary that the Mapuche themselves have the will to defend their cultural inheritance. This will only occur if the conservation and development of the language is accompanied by social renaissance and economic development of the ethnic group. The Mapuche language and culture can only reproduce and develop from a regional base -including, therefore, the regional urban centers- and within a framework of conditions favorable to and necessary for integral ethnic development, such as the recognition of rights over natural resources and to the benefits generated by their exploitation.

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1 Consult the article by Alfonso Cayul, "El indigenismo de la Concertación y la Ley 17.729: Una comparación" in Revista Liwen, Nº1, CEDM-LIWEN, Temuco, Dec. 1989 - Jan. 1990.

2 Stavenhagen, Rodolfo, "Comunidades étnicas en Estados modernos", América Indígena, Vol. XLIX, num. 1, Jan-Mar. 1989, pp.18. For further reference to this point see also Stavenhagen, R. Clases, colonialismo y aculturación, America Latina, Rio de Janeiro, 1964, and Gonzalez Casanova, P., Colonialismo interno y desarrollo nacional, America Latina, Rio de Janeiro, 1964.

3 For a detailed analysis of the contradictions in Chilean indigenous policy, see Cantoni, Wilson, Legislación indígena y el pueblo Mapuche, GIA, Santiago, 1986.

4 Thus, for example, the urban Mapuche face concrete problems quite different from the peasants (the need for urban housing, adequate job training, etc.) and at the same time are confronted with daily pressures to assimilate, complicated by the distance from their own cultural reference points (community, religious leaders, language, etc.) and the racism which they confront on a daily basis in the city.

5 A newly hired high school teacher, for example, is told by the school director that he will not be introduced to his students and their parents with his complete name because they might laugh, and school children themselves often face taunts and insults from their non-Mapuche schoolmates.

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