UC Davis

This dissertation shows how the symmetrical landscapes of Mapuche and California Native homelands became further interconnected through cultivar exchange in the 19th century. Grounded in Native American Studies theory and methodology, I follow the stories of wheat (Triticum compactum) and pine (Pinus radiata) and the links they have created between both regions. In the nineteenth century Chile experienced a boom in wheat exports to meet the demand of California gold rush populations, fueling the settlement of California and providing the seeds for the state’s budding wheat economy. California’s colonization and transition into large-scale agriculture in the 1860s became a model for the settlement of Mapuche territory. Eager to expand their agricultural frontier and to create a “Chilean California,” Chilean settlers invaded Mapuche territory through a process of massive deforestation. This land was then “reforested” with the California-native radiata pine. Based on original archival research and oral histories, I show how the centuries-long effort to replace Chile’s temperate rainforest with pine and other monoculture is the direct result of historical exchanges with California. This interdisciplinary and international study reveals the origin of Chile’s current environmental conflict, as well as future sites of collaboration among Indigenous peoples of both regions in response to extractivism and climate change. This research will also indigenize existing work on the Chile-California connection and will deepen important discourses about hemispheric approaches to Native American Studies.