Ethnographic Laboratories
The Anthropology Archives in Chile (1880-1980)

The result of over ten years of research in archives and museums in Chile, France, Spain, Belgium, the United States, and Germany, this extensive essay proposes a reading of historical anthropological archives over one hundred years of history. The narratives allow readers to delve into the political, institutional, and personal conditions that made the research of indigenous cultures possible, while also problematizing the status of texts, images, and objects as representations of ethnicity. These representations have influenced, to this day, the way the history and culture of the Mapuche, Yámana, Atacameño, Inca, Chinchorro, and Chango peoples are understood.