Mapuche Land Rights in Patagonia

The Mapuche are the original inhabitants of Argentina’s Patagonia region. Over decades of conquest and displacement, thousands of Indigenous people were killed, and many survivors were forced from their ancestral lands. Today, an estimated 120,000 Mapuche live in Argentina, many of whom continue to face threats to their territory and way of life as foreign individuals and corporations acquire large tracts of land historically belonging to Mapuche communities. In recent years, Mapuche groups have mobilized to reclaim their lands—through both legal processes and direct action—often facing stigmatization, violent evictions, and even killings or disappearances of their members by State forces and private actors.

Wesleyan students interviewing members of the Buenuleo community in Bariloche, Argentina (January 2025).

Over two research trips in 2023, Wesleyan University students and University Network for Human Rights supervisors traveled to Patagonia to investigate ongoing land and human rights violations against Mapuche communities. The fact-finding team conducted interviews with community leaders, human rights lawyers, public officials, and victims and their families, documenting the patterns of violence and dispossession affecting Mapuche communities.

In 2025, a new group of Wesleyan students returned to Patagonia to update the findings and complete the final report. The updated report, now ready for publication, will serve as an advocacy and educational tool to support Mapuche communities in their struggle for territorial rights and justice.