The Mapuche collections at the Ethnologisches Museum: (determining) their significance in the present

A violent history

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 infrastructure in the country’s southern region. In the process, the colonists and occupying military forces seized Mapuche cultural property. The majority of the Mapuche collections of the Ethnologisches Museum were acquired in the decades following the occupation of the territory. 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 approximately 600 objects in the Ethnologisches Museum’s collection include silver jewellery, riding equipment, clothing, and sensitive ritual objects.

Collaborative work with the Mapuche

In May 2025, five representatives of the Mapuche came to Berlin: an anthropologist, a weaver, a silversmith, a machi – a Mapuche spiritual leader – and her assistant for spiritual support. The aim of the cooperation project was to find out how the Mapuche perceive and understand the collections with their knowledge of (im)material culture in the present day.

The Mapuche delegation’s visit to the Museum was a valuable opportunity for knowledge exchange and direct contact with the objects. For the Mapuche, however, it also meant confronting the painful history of expropriation and colonisation of their territory. The objects contain information about their origin, use, techniques, and spiritual dimension – information that is largely missing from museum documentation but which the Mapuche can decipher, as their material culture is still alive and present in the participants. The Berlin collection enables the reconstruction and revival of complex Mapuche knowledge.