Thématique N°7

Discriminating against Mapuche Culture in the Chilean Educational System, by Abraham Magendzo

Since the settlement of Araucania, an event which sealed the integration of the Mapuche Indians into the Chilean nation, this culture has been confronted with an everlasting battle to ensure its survival as well as that of its culture. Unfortunately, this effort is being confronted with numerous obstacles.

For the Mapuche Indians, settlement represented a deep, psychological trauma - that is to say the invasion of another culture claiming a "civilising" mission to overcome the alleged "barbarity" of their own traditions. This characteristic trait of the approach by Spanish conquerors, followed by the Chilean nation, with respect to the Mapuche people has been perpetuated in many ways throughout the modern era in regard to policies concerning their individual relationships as well as their daily interactions between Mapuche and non-Mapuche peoples (Huincas). In fact, the latter remain overall convinced that it is their responsibility to remove the members of the Mapuche ethnic group from an "inferior" status and to allow them to access the “superior” developmental phase associated with the dominant culture. For the Mapuches, this goal involves giving up their language, traditions, social networks and their way of viewing the world.

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