Territoriality and ancestral governance: the case of the Puel Nahuelbuta Mapuche Indigenous Development Area of Chile

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to introduce the case of the Puel Nahuelbuta Indigenous Development Area (Mapuche, Chile) as a design practice that fosters local autonomy and, at the same time, contributes to the debate on radical alternative imaginaries towards post-patriarchal and post-capitalist social and cultural relations. In this context, the Az Mapu (knowledge of the natural order of the territory) rationality is important as a concept in the right way round indigenous territory and its governance. A second factor that stabilises the design practice of local autonomy is Kimün (ancestral philosophy or wisdom). Ixtrofil Mogen (living in biodiversity) and Küme Mogen (living well/good living), being the ability to reflect according to the experiences, knowledge and circumstances faced by a person or group, are central. The questioning of these notions highlights the controversy between social justice, indigenous social work and indigenous traditional knowledge.