Country: Argentina

Group: Mapuche

Date Finalized: 4/5/2020

Team: Aracely Esquer (lead), Giselle Chavez Lopez, Sophia Agne

The Mapuche are an indigenous ethnic group originally from Chile with over 100,000 living in Argentina. Under the Roca presidency of the late 1800s, military campaigns known as the “Conquest of the Desert” led to the dislocation and killings of the Mapuche. Evictions of Mapuche people from indigenous lands were enforced in 1995 as conflict between them and the Pulmari Interstate Corporation arose due to territory restrictions. Today, several indigenous groups and international human rights organizations have fought for the rights for the Mapuche people that include land ownership and cultural education programs (Minority Watch, n.d.). They have also denounced the persecution, detention, disappearance and torture of Mapuche people and leaders (Human Rights Council, 2019). A history dating from the Spanish conquest to current military campaigns and policies have led to the discrimination, elimination, dislocation, enslavement and cultural cleansing of the Mapuche people in Argentina (Delrio et al., 2010). The data quality ranking of ethnocide would be considered a 3 due to evidence from credible sources for loss of livelihoods due to relocations as well as cultural restrictions.

Sources

  1. Delrio, W., Lenton, D., Musante, M., Nagy, M., Papazian, A., & Pérez, P. (2010). Discussing Indigenous Genocide in Argentina: Past, Present, and Consequences of Argentinean State Policies toward Native Peoples. Genocide Studies and Prevention, 5(2), 138–159. https://doi.org/10.3138/gsp.5.2.138
  2. Human Rights Council (2019). The Mapuche people face genocidal policies implemented by the states of Argentina and Chile. United Nations General Assembly. Retrieved from https://www.mapuche-nation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/The-Mapuche-people-face-genocidal-policies-implemented-by-the-states-of-Argentina-and-Chile-HRC-40-session-20190227.pdf
  3. Minority Rights Group (n.d.). Mapuche. Retrieved from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/mapuche/