The circulation of Mapuche-Huilliche children from their homes to various parts of Chile, where they were destined for domestic service, under the name of “mocitos and chinitas”, was one of the multiple forms of ethnic domination in the processes of Spanish expansion and consolidation of the Chilean State in the Mapuche-Huilliche territory in the 18th and 19th centuries. These practices are investigated in the departments of Valdivia, La Unión and Osorno, which are currently part of the Los Ríos and Los Lagos Regions, based on archival sources found in the Franciscan Historical Archive (section Colegio de Chillán) and the National Archive of Santiago, Chile. This background allows us to characterize different contexts and modalities of child circulation that include the abduction and purchase of indigenous children, as well as their delivery in exchange relationships or in contexts of extreme need for their relatives.
Poblete, M. P. (2019). The work of mapuche-huilliches children as ‘mocitos’ and ‘chinitas’ of domestic service (Valdivia, XVIII-XIX centuries). Revista Chilena De Antropología, (40), 221–237. Retrieved from https://revistasaludpublica.uchile.cl/index.php/RCA/article/view/55770
