This work is based upon fieldwork carried out among indigenous Pehuenche people living in the Andes in Southern Chile. It is an ethnographic investigation of the relations between Pehuenche vision and healing practices in different local settings. The first part of this thesis focuses on Pehuenche vision from a cosmo-political angle. In order to set the scene for my overall argument, I explore the constitutive relation between mutual vision among real people (Ch. che) and the emergence of the Pehuenche person, which I call the ‘dynamic personal composition.’ With mutual vision between people being a precondition for the emergence of social relations, I examine the experience of particular witchcraft actions in which mutual vision is not possible. This leads to the conceptualization of ‘unilateral vision’ as a key phenomenon associated with the emergence of illnesses and the alteration of the shared plane of Pehuenche visibility. I also explore how mutual vision can be restored only through the assemblage of particular visual capacities known in the vernacular as ‘the gift of vision.’ In the second part of the thesis, I analyze the ways in which public health services respond to particular illnesses not detectable or treatable by medical technicians. In particular, I focus on the implications of ‘the visualization of traditional healers,’ inherent in the State’s approach to intercultural health. Through the examination of both particular intercultural health projects, as well as local expressions of discontent and animosity towards the State, this thesis seeks to create awareness about the ontological relevance of mutual vision in relations among real people. By pointing out the equivocal understandings of the visible and the invisible domains within intercultural relations, the analysis as a whole seeks to explain why Pehuenche vision must be understood through ontological examination rather than through a multicultural approach.

Memoria para optar al Título Profesional de Ingeniera Forestal / El presente estudio fue realizado con el propósito de analizar y comprender el vínculo existente entre cuatro pueblos indígenas, rapa nui, mapuche, pehuenche y selk’nam y las especies vegetales presentes en su medioambiente, para poder integrar y dar a conocer estos conocimientos a través de las muestras museográficas del Museo de la Vivienda Tradicional Local. Para esto se seleccionó la información que presentó alguna relación etnobotánica con los pueblos del estudio, además se vinculó la flora representativa de los sectores de interés para El Museo y se organizó la información obtenida mediante una diferenciación de especies para su estudio etnobotánico en relación con la museografía, con el objetivo final de crear un listado de especies vegetales con potencialidad para ser incluidas en la muestra representativa de El Museo, a través de un catálogo etnobotánico. Los métodos usados para lograr los objetivos antes mencionados tienen su base en un análisis etnobotánico cualitativo, que se desarrolló con la revisión bibliográfica de antecedentes etnográficos y etnobotánicos de los cuatro pueblos de estudio. La información obtenida sobre las especies vinculadas a los pueblos del estudio, se organizó mediante la diferenciación etnobotánica en función de los criterios museográficos, pensando en una comprehensión para los visitantes del museo. Para definir la importancia de las especies para la muestra representativa del Museo, se usó de un análisis multicriterio con matrices de clasificación en función de criterios museográficos. Además, mediante el manual de métodos y criterios para la evaluación y monitoreo de la flora y la vegetación se identificó la flora existente en las zonas de interés del Museo. El estudio demostró que existe un amplio conocimiento y vinculación entre cada pueblo indígena y su medioambiente, al utilizar las diversas especies vegetales presentes en su entorno, para distintos fines. Según la puntuación obtenida por las especies para cada cultura, se determinó que la primera posición era ocupada por Drimys winteri en el caso de la cultura mapuche, Araucaria araucana para los pehuenche, Nothofagus betuloides para los selk’nam y Saccharum officinarum para los rapa nui. / The present study was carried out with the purpose of analyzing and understanding the link between four indigenous peoples, rapa nui, mapuche, pehuenche and selk'nam and the plant species present in their environment, in order to integrate and make known this knowledge through of the museographic samples of the Museo de la Vivienda Tradicional Local. For this, the information that presented some ethnobotanical relationship with the study villages was selected. In addition, the representative flora of the sectors of interest to the Museum was linked and the information obtained through a species differentiation was organized for its ethnobotanical study in relation to the museography, with the final objective of creating a list of plant species with the potential to be included in the representative sample of the Museum, through an ethnobotanical catalog. The methods used to achieve the mentioned objectives are based on a qualitative ethnobotanical analysis, which was developed with the bibliographic review of ethnographic and ethnobotanical antecedents of the four villages of study. The information obtained about the species linked to the study villages was organized through ethnobotanical differentiation according to the museographic criteria, thinking about an understanding for the museum visitors. In order to define the importance of the species for the representative sample of the Museum, a multicriteria analysis was used to classify matrices according to museographic criteria. In addition, the manual of methods and criteria for the evaluation and monitoring of flora and vegetation identified the flora existing in the areas of interest of the Museum. The study showed that there is a wide knowledge and connection between each indigenous people and their environment, using the various plant species present in their environment, for different purposes. According to the score obtained by the species for each culture, it was determined that the first position was occupied by Drimys winteri in the case of the mapuche culture, Araucaria araucana by the pehuenche culture, Nothofagus betuloides by the selk'nam people and Saccharum officinarum by the rapa nui people.