Abstract

From Mapuche leaders' oral testimony during the struggle for territorial recuperation in the Arauco region during the 20th century, we present an interpretative reconstruction of these processes, revealing the importance of collective organisation. The early relationship between regional Mapuche leaders and communities and the world of the nearby coal mines and their trade union activism provided the coastal Mapuche movement in Arauco a specific nuance that distinguished them and made them a precursor to their people's struggles for territorial recuperation.