Indigenous Peoples in Chile Chile: Business, Language & Culture Program Spring 2017 Semester - Viña del Mar

The Mapuche are the largest and most influential indigenous population in Chile. From a long history of violent exploitation by Spain and Chile, recent years have seen a revival and a reassertion of Mapuche ethnic identity in their 500 year old struggle for the land. This course is an in-depth approach to the ethnic identity of the Mapuche culture. Identity will here be seen as a broad concept that includes history, origin, myth, language, ritual, personhood and worldview. Throughout these topics a central red line can be traced in the relationship with the 'other', the non-mapuche o winka as it is frequently named in their language, whether it is a Spanish colonial 'other' or a Chilean contemporary 'other'. Both historical as well as anthropological perspectives will be used to understand this broad constellation of identity.