On Value and Archive: Chilean Coins and Mapuche Jewelry

Summary

I propose a reflection on the notion of Mapuche archive focusing on Mapuche jewelry as a special kind of document. As they were made with coins, I analyzed the problem of the value associated with these jewels. Thus, I describe a historical movement, through which the coins were first withdrawn from the logic given by the Chilean political-economic archive, and then were inserted in a Mapuche logic of value and archive, understanding the latter as an instrument of political legitimacy. Then I analyze their post-conquest (by Chilean State) journey, and their reinsertion in the Chilean field as commodities until their current museographic resignifications. I conclude by commenting on some forms of their present assessment in the context of multicultural and heritage management of cultural differences.