El matrimonio como espacio de “desfragmentación” entre mapuche-huilliches desnaturalizados a Santiago de Chile durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVII (1669-1678)

Abstract

Throughout the seventeenth century the frontier war in Southern Chile was characterized byraids that were oriented towards pillage and the capture of indigenous peoples who had beendeclared to be legally enslavable since 1608. Deported to central Chile, Coquimbo or Lima,Mapuche and southern Huilliche were part of a generalized experience of communal uprooting, thefragmentation of social networks, territorial links and above all the destruction of familiar ties ofindividuals who were exposed to the traumatic experiences of violent abduction and perpetual exilefrom their homeland.The objective of this article is to delineate the signs of this fragmentation and to then studythe recomposition trends –or “defragmentation”– that were observed among the Indians uponmarriage, within the urban context of the Chilean capital and the surrounding area. This analysisis based on records from the Sagrario parish and centers around an historical moment of transitionbetween the rise of the capture and traffic of this “rebel” Indians and the abolition of legal slavery.