Arturo Huenchullán

Arturo Huenchullán Medel (16 August 1901 – 27 November 1978) was a Chilean teacher, Mapuche leader and politician.

He served as a deputy during the 1933–1937 legislative period and was a prominent leader of the Sociedad Caupolicán Defensora de la Araucanía during the 1920s.

Biography Huenchullán was born in Victoria, in the former Malleco Province, to Ignacio Huenchullán and Sara Medel. His childhood took place during the period of consolidation of Mapuche reductions following the Occupation of Araucanía by the Chilean Army.

In 1927, he was selected by the government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo to pursue postgraduate studies in the United States, becoming the first Mapuche to undertake postgraduate education abroad. He earned a doctorate in Educational Sciences from the George Peabody College for Teachers, now part of Vanderbilt University.

His name also appears in the student records of Columbia University (1928–1929), where he studied rural education and indigenous civilizations, and he later participated in summer programs at George Washington University.

Political career Upon returning to Chile, Huenchullán Medel ran for office in the 1932 parliamentary elections and was elected deputy for the 1933–1937 term as a member of the Democratic Party.

He later ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 1941 and again in 1949, the latter as a candidate of the Democratic Party of the Peoples.

After leaving politics, he devoted himself to teaching, specializing in education for indigenous children. In 1942, he married Corina del Carmen Pino, with whom he had six children.

Huenchullán died in Santiago on 27 November 1978. His remains were initially interred at the Cementerio General de Santiago and were later transferred in 1998 to the municipal cemetery of Lautaro.