Políticas estatales y procesos de etnogénesis en el caso de poblaciones mapuche de Villa La Angostura, provincia de Neuquén, Argentina

Abstract

In 2003, some Mapuche families who are inhabitants of Villa La Angostura and its surroundings in the province of Neuquén , started a process to claim their lands. This claim to have access to the land resources has been made by means of a process of ethnic adscription performed by these families. In this study our aim is to analyze the historical process relating the different contexts which during the twentieth century have caused the gradual subordination and loss of resources by these families as opposed to the settlement policies the National State has applied through the Administración de Parques Nacionales (National Parks Administration). The gradual consolidation of the power of the State within the context of “border” has tended to refuse ethnic adscription and consider the cultural patrimony of these families as virtually non-existent.At the same time, we analyze the revaluation of the Mapuche identity and their ethnic adscription as the basis for the promotion of their territorial claims as an etnogenesis process in relation to the disparity of state policies and the contradictions inside the State in relation to national and provincial powers.