Tourism as a space for commodification or cultural revitalization

This article analyzes the problem generated in the Lof Trankura, an indigenous Mapuche territory in the south of Chile, due to the arrival of a foreign company and its project of construction of a hydroelectric power station in the area, which supposes a threat to part of Mapuche locals, culturally, environmentally and economically. This situation has shown the existence of "experts" (government institutions, companies, politicians, etc.) who promote a discourse of capitalist development, of progress, which often interferes with the dynamics present in the Lof. In response, it arises a certain "cultural revitalization" expressed in tourism entrepreneurships carried out by some of the population of the indigenous communities in Trankura. Through participant observation and collaboration in the various tourist activities, the origin, functioning and purposes of tourism development are disengaged, as well as the categories and purposes that are given to it from different institutional, touristic and indigenous perspectives. The objective is questioning how the touristic entrepreneurships are an opposition tool to external interventions considering the power relations that are established and thus see what role tourism plays in the development and autonomy of the comuneros of the Lof. The presented problematic connects with the wide debates that question a universal model of development, contributing the recognition of the practices and knowledge of the indigenous populations. Although tourism is a researched subject, it is interesting and new to investigate how this has happened to be an option for the cultural development of Mapuche communities, being a tool for the preservation of the territory and the struggle for autonomy.