The contestedrewe: sacred sites, misunderstandings, and ontological pluralism inMapuche land negotiations

Abstract

Sacred sites lie at the core of indigenous peoples' land claims and negotiations with the state. These sites are often subject to accusations of inauthenticity by state actors, which potentially lead to the delegitimization of claims over ancestral land. This article argues that misunderstandings in Mapuche land negotiations in Chile do not originate as strategic refusals to understand, but rather in a form of understanding which aims to make radical differences commensurable within the logics of statecraft and national society. In the process of cultural translation, the ontological principles that make certain places sacred in the Mapuche lived world are not recognized, resulting in the transformation of these sites into symbols of identity strategically employed for political ends.

The becoming of ancestral land: Place and property in Mapuche land claims

“…The translation of ancestral territory into land grants reveals the profound ontological differences between concepts of property, according to which land is an undifferentiated and quantifiable object, and the notion of tuwün, which presupposes land as a plenary and agential being. As I have proposed elsewhere (Di Giminiani , ), the notion of translation provides a helpful framework for understanding state officers’ negative responses to Mapuche land demands. Failures of negotiations largely derive from the ways state officers misunderstand elements of ancestral land, such as sacred sites and place‐names, by interpreting them in line with conventional expectations of what culturally relevant sites are and the functions they may serve in the political arena .…”

El paisaje como proceso de vida: experiencias de domesticación del bosque en el sur de Chile

“…Sin embargo, dichos estudios se caracterizan por poseer diferentes perspectivas que pueden ser categorizadas en tres grandes campos, a saber: los estudios ecológicos sobre cambios en el paisaje a partir de análisis cuantitativos sobre fragmentación de bosque (Armesto et al, 1994, Echeverría et al, 2006, Nahuelhual et al, 2012; estudios historiográfi cos sobre ocupación del territorio por parte de los colonos y empresas forestales (Camus y Solari 2008;Bengoa, 2000;Klubock, 2014;Clapp, 1995), y estudios antropológicos sobre los procesos interculturales de signifi cación del paisaje relacionados con la cosmología mapuche (Di Giminiani, 2013, 2015ay 2015bDillehay, 2011;Skewes et al, 2014).…”

“…En este sentido, junto al paisaje se articulan funciones sociales, económicas y religiosas, la cuales continuamente se van grabando en el paisaje, siendo los espacios ceremoniales vitales para su persistencia y continuidad. Otros estudios han destacado la importancia cultural de los recursos naturales, como agua o bosque, en la sociedad mapuche (Armesto et al, 2001;Di Giminiani, 2012;Skewes et al, 2014).…”

Political violence against the Mapuche in Chile, 1850-1929

“…2 "Following the end of the Chilean military invasion in 1883, collective land titles (Títulos de Merced) were instituted and a member of each newly founded reservation (reducción) was appointed as a local delegate (cacique)". 4 3 Elsewhere, he states: "There exists a frontier life with multiples and intense relations which are characteristic of peaceful areas where violent clash is sporadic".5 of Mapuche territory. Later, Villalobos nuances this position, stating: "although the 1880-1881 uprising was at moments tough, it wasn't a daunting rebellion, but mostly made of fancy words, talks, fears and threats".…”

“…The author underlines the importance of violence in Mapuche border relations, stating that "the limit between violence and politics was very thin, especially when each segment pretended to capture power in order to survive". 6 Moreover, León Solís supports the existence of a Hobbesian state of war: "By the end of 1772, the tribal society's chronic disease, the endless war of ˝man against man" described by Hobbes in the Leviathan, 4 flourished with energy in the rewes south of the Bío-Bío". 6 This situation, he claims, produced the "fracture of the old consensus that made the colonial government possible".…”