Santiago Mapuche. The indigenous dimension of urban space in Chile

Abstract

In the Greater Metropolitan Area of Santiago currently lives a large percentage of the Mapuche indigenous population present in the country; this migrant community is composed by direct descendents of the ancestral indigenous communities located in the south of Chile. The presence of this population has led to the creation of social networks that have been consolidated in that space through ethnic enclaves and also through the generation of territorial capital in the city. Both phenomena have caused that the Government of Chile tries to supply specific "intercultural" demands for this population living in the “indigenous dimension” of their capital city, the "Santiago Mapuche" that urban indigenous construct on a daily basis. In this research we highlight the territorial initiatives and evidences of “Santiago Mapuche”.