Making indigenous space in the city: Mapuche migrations and territorial reconfigurations in Concepción, Chile
Résumé
After the conquest of their customary territory by the Chilean army in the late nineteenth century, most of the Mapuche were compelled to migrate towards large regional urban areas in central Chile. This process has continued to increase over the last century to the extent that Mapuche society has become mainly urbanised. To examine the territorial configurations that have arisen from this context, this chapter analyses the production of Mapuche spaces in the Metropolitan Area of Concepción. The main supported argument is that current migrations are transforming the Mapuche territory in both its form and its nature, and that traditional social patterns are extended to, and reproduced in, the city.