Imagined geographies and indigenous territories:

the case of the Mapuche Lincoqueo community (Chile)

Abstract

Essentialist conceptions of culture have been the object of extensive questioning both from anthropology and the social sciences, however, this tendency persists in the social and political imaginary of our discipline in a large part of the continent. The objective of this article is to problematize the essentialist representations of Mapuche territories in southern Chile, based on what Eduard Said called “imagined geography”. To this purpose, we ask to what extent Said’s reflection on the Orient can be applied to our representations of Mapuche communities and culture? Are these communities today -as in the past- an imagined geography? The study was exploratory, qualitative in approach and was developed through a case study in the Mapuche Lincoqueo community, for which five members of the community participated through biographical and in depth interviews. Likewise, historical archives were also reviewed. The results show that we are faced with a “westernized” indigenous community. This situation can be understood in the light of a long and complex process of identity reconstruction and socio-cultural relations, in which it stands out, from the indigenous perspective, the construction of an welfare idea associated with the purpose of ceasing to be poor and, at the same time, ceasing to be Mapuche stands out. The study reveals the importance of problematizing and demystifying certain imaginaries that inhabit us, especially in relation to Latin American indigenous identity and otherness.