Abstract

This research paper aims to approach Mapuche’s understandings of thought, knowledge and language, in order to move forward to an intercultural dialogue from the perspective of the encounter of cultures with different epistemologies.This research was carried out from the complementarity and reciprocity of Mapuche and non-Mapuche knowledge and methodologies. In this context, the inatuzugun [Mapuche inquiry method], the hermeneutic and diatopic phenomenology allow us to systematize the knowledge and, therefore, permit us to present the results of a study in Mapudungun, in which speakers from Araucanía and Los Ríos participated. The results and conclusions suggest that 1) the Mapuche thought is relational and community based; 2) Mapuche knowledge lives in the territory, in the different beings with whom we cohabit and within people; 3) Mapuzugun is not a categorical or conceptual language but rather presentational; Finally, 4) for an authentic cross-fertilization between cultures, an intercultural dialogue must also problematize and question the language of communication, not to categorize or misinterpret what the other person says in their own language.