La recuperación mapuche del küpalme como “aprender a vivir”. Conflictos ideológicos y ontológicos con la categoría “descendiente”

Abstract

In this paper I analyze the hegemonic meanings of the term (Mapuche) “descendant”, its self-ascribed uses, and the Mapuche concept of küpalme, which refers to their origin. My argument is that the discussion among the Mapuche people over the category “descendant” involves two different levels: an ideological level and an ontological one. On the ideological level they discuss with the hegemonic discourse―which, in line with the ideology of mestizaje, announces the loss of Mapuche identity― by characterizing it as racist and by defining “descendant” as a colonial category through which epistemic violence is exerted. On the ontological level they discuss with the modern ontology, which assumes the agency only of humans and which considers heritage as a biological and given phenomena that refers to the past. In the concept of küpalme they recognize the agency of other forces and entities besides humans, and not just in the past but also guiding the making of decisions in the present. The self-ascribed uses of the term “descendant” express opposed meanings referring to these disputes. Even when affected by the hegemonic criteria about who can be Mapuche, the persons who recognize themselves as descendants and who seek to rediscover the Mapuche people’s history and be part of it grow apart from the statement that sustains the inexorable loss of identity, in a process of desubjection from the hegemonic discourse.