In this article, we discuss tourism in indigenous territories from a perspective that highlights political and power relations, taking experiences in Chile as a reference. We address issues such as the genealogy of public policies associated with tourism, particularly indigenous tourism, and then consider different forms of expression such as structural violence and political vindication. Among the key actors leading these processes in their own territories are the indigenous tourism entrepreneurs, as opposed to the “users” of social programs. Also important, in relation to public policy operation, are the institutionalized mediators who are fundamental to the design and implementation of indigenous tourism, either as officials or external “experts”. Examples of structural violence and political vindication are presented based on ethnographic work in various parts of Chile, mainly in the Araucanía Region and San Pedro de Atacama. We conclude that these three aspects, public policies promoting indigenous tourism, structural violence, and land claims are mutually constructed in a tension and openness that generates various actions from specific indigenous territories.

This work presents the results of an ethnographic study, supplemented by documentary sources, into enablement processes in coastal economies based largely on artisanal fishing in north-central, southern, and far southern Chile. Defined as the participation of an investor in the artisanal fisherman’s activities by advancing capital for the purchase of consumables and equipment against a share of the proceeds, enablement (habilitación) is considered to be a basic form of structuring; its spatial-temporal expressions are variations of economic intermediation based on indebtedness. Although we have described the clearest and most strongly institutionalized form of enablement on the coast of the far south of Chile, it can also be observed in other latitudes along the coast of the country and in other parts of Latin America. The main historical background of the coastal regions comes from documents and research carried out in the area of Chiloé and Aisén regarding the migrations of sea-lion hunters, lumberjacks, and shellfish collectors to the south of Chile in the 19th and 20th centuries. In these cases, the gangs of workers were issued with consumables for their work and provisions to sustain their families during the season. The ethnographic data include witness reports obtained in Las Guaitecas Islands, Calbuco, Valdivia, and Los Vilos. The analysis reveals the origins of and changes in the enablement model as a persistent expression of economic intermediation in today’s artisanal fishing partnerships.

Rafael Vega Centeno and Carol Lang

We present the first results of micromorphological analyses conducted on four samples extracted from occupational floors of the Maranga-Lima urban complex (AD 350-780). Results reveal evidence of activity areas that involved firing events, with the presence of carbonized material and organic elements (particularly bone and shell). In addition, we recovered evidence of possible floor matting due to the concentration of non-carbonized grass phytoliths. Thus, this study notes the potential of micromorphological analyses for the reconstruction of activity areas in urban spaces that are usually found to be “clean” from a macroscopic perspective.