Abstract

The article analyzes the historical geographical discourse present in the maps produced by the Bavarian Capuchin missionaries in the Province of Valdivia (a fundamental area of the so-called Historic Araucanía) between 1890 and 1935, based on the missionary work carried out in Mapunche lands. This cartography represented the power dynamics in the territory during that period. The perspective of historical geography is taken as theoretical reference. The sources used correspond to the Patrimonial cartographic Fund of the Bishop’s Archive of Villarrica and the Regional Archive of Araucanía, Chili. The results reflect that the missionary action of the Capuchins followed a pattern of territorial occupation that served as the basis for the Chilean State, to consolidate the occupation of the area as part of the construction project of the national state territorially speaking. Likewise, it is shown that said missionary action allowed the formation of a space of power on different scales, favoring the construction of a territorial logic that strengthened a conception of «imagined territory», at the expense of Mapunche territorialities in southern Chile. © 2025 Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins. All rights reserved.