Anusha Mehar, College of Mount Saint Vincent
“Mapuches Urbanos: Complex Identities in Relation to their Forced Migration”
Bio: Anusha Mehar is pursing a BA from the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the disciplines of History and Spanish, with a focus in International Relations. She is the College’s first recipient of the Jeanette K. Watson Fellowship, a competitive award presented to New York City undergraduates who demonstrate strong academic abilities as well as enthusiasm to make a difference in the lives of others. Her most recent summer as a Fellow was spent interning for the Talent department at Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. The semester before joining Acumen, Anusha studied abroad in Chile through the School for International Training, where she conducted independent research on effects of indigenous migration and participated in a community service project with a toma de tereno. She interned for the Development department of the International Coalition for Historic Site Museums of Consciousness for her first Watson Summer. Prior to enrolling in university, Anusha volunteered as a primary school English teacher in Thailand, with the UK based organization i-to-i.
Abstract: This investigation seeks to explore connections between urban Mapuche identities in relation to the community’s historically forced migration. It endeavors to realize the current situation in which persons of Mapuche decent are living in the Metropolitan Area of Santiago while investigating their methods of organization used to preserve their culture and ultimately aspires to identify and understand the desires of their community for the future. Through the implementation of the neoliberal economic model during the dictatorship and the political policies of the governments that followed, the Chilean State has successfully usurped the majority of Mapuche land, which leaves them no choice but to migrate to cities in search of bettering their economic situations. This study asserts that the culture that is created usually exists on either side of two extremes: on the one side, Mapuche are apathetic towards their culture and the traditions of their ancestors while on the other side, they are adamantly trying to pursue Mapuche autonomy. Either way, it remains that urban Mapuche culture is rapidly being absorbed into the occidental world that surrounds it. If they do not actively make a more collective and conscious effort to defend their culture, it will be lost forever.
