Resistance and the re-appropriation of the warrior trope in Mapuche cultural production

The latest story to receive international attention was the suspected arson attack by a group of Mapuche on a fundo in Vilcún, which led to the death of two elderly colonos (the Luchsingers) in January 2013. Discussing the incident the same week on a popular television programme, the celebrity psychologist Dr.

Maria Luisa Cordero, resorted to a racist argument which looked to the killing of conquistador Pedro de Valdivia by Mapuche in 1558 as proof that ‘la lealtad y la transparencia no es una característica de la raza mapuche’. Her views are not unusual; indeed they illustrate the perspectives shared by many Chileans with regards to the conflict that appears ‘out of nowhere’ and is often explained away by the inherent rebelliousness of the Mapuche people.