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ABSTRACT
The phenomenon of migration to cities by indigenous Mapuche people of Chile is associated with various consequences, such as the loss of ethnic identity and cultural practices. This study aims to describe how ethnic identity is maintained through the recreation of ancestral cultural practices that Mapuche women promote in their families, generating identification to new spaces of residence. This qualitative research draws on analyses of forty-eight interviews conducted with twelve families from four neighbourhoods in Santiago. The study reveals ways in which key traditional Mapuche practices are translated and recreated through the processes of place-referent continuity and place-congruent continuity in new urban areas of residence which in turn express variant forms of ethnic identity and everyday politics of care that extend beyond folkloric notions of rural indigeneity and more static political ideologies of ethno-national autonomy.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Mapuche families in Santiago who participated in this study.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. Literature regarding Mapuche political struggle and the role of women is extensive, but we are unable to give sufficient attention to this subject in this article which focuses instead on less politicized everyday forms of ethnic identity.
2. The adult and elder women interviewed as part of the sample come from indigenous communities situated in rural settings in the south of the country, migrating to the capital in search of better economic opportunities.
3. Having a conversation to convey a teaching.
4. The act of drinking medicinal herbal infusions and, while doing so, engaging in conversation.
5. Dreams with meanings that can be understood and interpreted among family members to foresee future events.
6. Due to space restrictions, this practice is not discussed in the present article.
7. Medicinal plants that serve to cure different illnesses.
8. This word means “strength” or “good spirit”. It refers to the “positive energy” that the universe possesses due to nature and all living things.
9. See Bacigalupo (Citation2003) and Reuque and Mallon (Citation2002) on Mapuche feminism and activism.
10. Mapuche traditional food and drink, made with wheat.
11. Wheat grain that is peeled and boiled with ashes.
12. Refers to the knowledge of paternal and maternal ancestry associated with the territory (“lof” of origin) and also related to the people, either dead or alive, on whom family members depend.
13. Kayana is a large flat metal spoon that is placed over an open fire for toasting flour.
14. Before the Quechua and Spanish invasions, Mapuche mothers enjoyed a high status in their families, producing almost matriarchal conditions that were common in early agricultural cultures. Chroniclers described a custom in which, upon entering into marriage, the husband was incorporated into the tribe of the wife and the children received the maternal last name. It was the influence of the patriarchal system of the Spanish conquerors in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that led to women's being incorporated into the husband's clan.
15. The formal presentation of each person and family in a conversation.
16. Inviting someone to eat and drink.
17. Thanking the person who issues an invitation.
18. Although Mapuche population numbers are now roughly similar between the southern regions of Chile and Santiago, in the south they constitute a much larger proportion of the residents in those cities and towns.
19. The social organization of the Mapuche people, consisting of a family or lineage clan, composed of various families who share a single territory and common heritage, having descended from a common ancestor.