Settler Colonialism in Araucanía: The Mapuche's Defense of Their Lands and Citizenship Rights Through the Medium of Letters in Nineteenth Century Chile

Abstract

Abstract: As Chilean citizens, the Mapuche peoples were landowners of large tracts of lands in Araucanía, Chile's southern borderlands region between the Bío- Bío and Toltén rivers. This article analyzes a series of letters that Mapuche leaders wrote to state authorities and others in the middle of the nineteenth century. The content of these letters reveals multiple ways that Mapuche leaders argued for the protection of their lands and interests, as the state created policies that actively worked to undermine them through a settler colonization plan. This strategy included appropriating Mapuche lands for outside settlers and denying the Mapuche their citizen rights as Chilean citizens.