Dana Brablec Sklenar: Santiago Waria Mew : Constructing ethnic identity through associational participation in Santiago de Chile

Mapuche culture is based on oral tradition and is customarily transferred within the family bosom. However, rural-urban migration, together with the multiple pressures the Mapuche face by living in an urban milieu, have resulted in the breakdown of traditional oral knowledge transmission. The distance of the Mapuche people from their rural communities and territories of origin, their main sources of identity, coupled with the effects of socio-economic and racial discrimination, have resulted in a complex process of ethnic ascription, particularly impacting generations born in urban areas. Numerous ethnic-based associations are being created and joined by Mapuche from different generations living in the capital of Chile, Santiago, with renovated strength since they received their legal recognition by the post-authoritarian Indigenous Law in 1993. Cultural-based workshops organised by those urban Mapuche associations have provided a protective and familiar environment for the revival of traditional Mapuche practices with an emphasis on three main areas: spirituality, health and language. In this paper, I argue that urban Mapuche associations have been transformed into one of the main conduits for learning about Mapuche culture and idiosyncrasies in the city, making what is conceived as ‘the good rural-traditional’ Mapuche knowledge operative by recovering, appropriating, and actively preserving it. Drawing on data gathered from an eight-month period of fieldwork in Santiago de Chile, this paper presents a unique perspective on the vital associational role in the rescue and revitalisation of ethnic-cultural practices, which are fundamental for reconstruction of Mapuche identity in the city.

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Waria Mew:  “Santiago my city” in Mapuzungun, the language of the Mapuche people.