TOURISM AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: POLICIES, IRRUPTION AND CLAIM IN CHILE

Abstract

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.