Mapuche Land Rights in Patagonia

The Mapuche and Tehuelche are the original inhabitants of Argentina’s Patagonia region. Centuries of “conquest” killed thousands of Indigenous people, leaving only 120,000 Mapuche in Argentina. Those not killed have been displaced, particularly over the past several decades, as foreign nationals and corporations have purchased large plots of traditional Mapuche lands. In recent years, Mapuche communities have sought to recover these ancestral lands, in some cases through land occupation and in others through legal processes. State forces and private individuals have retaliated by stigmatizing, displacing, killing, and disappearing members of the Mapuche community.

In January and March 2023, Wesleyan students and supervisors traveled to Patagonia to investigate the land and human rights situation of the Mapuche. The factfinding team interviewed Indigenous leaders, human rights attorneys, and officials, as well as victims and their family members. This spring, at Wesleyan, the students have begun drafting a report on the situation of Indigenous groups in Patagonia. The report will serve as an advocacy tool for Mapuche communities facing abuses and fighting to reclaim their traditional lands.