The Ethnologisches Museum is home to collections from the Indigenous Mapuche community, who dwell primarily in the region that is today Chile, the first of which were acquired in the mid-19th century. In a cooperation project with representatives of the Mapuche, the museum aims to determine the significance of the collections in the present day and the histories, wisdom and customs associated with the artefacts. To this end, the museum is working together with members of the Mapuche community who have expert knowledge of both their non-material and material culture.
The provenances of the various items held in the collections also play a role in terms of determining the significance of the artefacts in the present day. In the 19th century, Chile and Argentina waged a brutal military conquest of the region inhabited by the Mapuche. What’s more, the Chilean government enlisted European – in particular German – settlers to develop and expand infrastructure and industry in the country’s southern region. In the process, the colonists and occupying military forces seized a number of Mapuche cultural artefacts, which were in many cases integrated into museum collections. The majority of the artefacts held in the Mapuche collections of the Ethnologisches Museum were acquired in the decades following the occupation of the territory and the arrival of German settlers. The circumstances surrounding the acquisition of the various objects are wide-ranging – from trades and purchases to grave robbery – and in many cases have gone undocumented. The more recent collections from the 19th century, for example, were acquired by way of selective acquisition and donations.
The collections comprise some 600 objects, including silver jewellery, riding accessories, clothing, everyday objects and sensitive ritual artefacts, all of which were acquired by the Ethnologisches Museum between 1876 and 2011. One of the challenges encountered in processing the collections is the discrepancy between the actual contents of the collections and what has been documented: the location, dimensions and photographic documentation of many of the objects have yet to be entered into the digital database, which means that the artefacts must first be identified and digitally catalogued. Furthermore, the items in the collections are contaminated due to decades of pesticide use. As such, handling the artefacts requires the use of protective clothing, gloves and masks.
A visit by four Mapuche representatives is planned for May 2025: an anthropologist, a weaver, a silversmith and a machi, a Mapuche spiritual leader, will work with the collections. The cooperation project aims to provide insight into current Mapuche perspectives on the collections and their understanding of (non-)material culture, as well as to foster an active exchange of knowledge.
Region: Chile
Community: Mapuche
Cooperation partners: Nicolás Valenzuela Quintupil (anthropologist), Antonio Chihuaicura Chihuaicura (teacher of Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche), Rutrafe (silversmith), María Elena Huentuleo Quechupan (Gürekafe, weaver), Patricia Huinca (machi; Gürekafe, weaver)
Project direction: Stefanie Schien
Research: Lena Steffens (guest researcher), Carolina Bayer (collection management), Mira Dallige-Smith (restoration), Sebastian Kolberg (restoration), Peter Stauffer (restoration)
Project funding: Ethnologisches Museum (The Collaborative Museum)
Project timeline: November 2024 to June 2025