Indigenous youth subcultures and new media in Latin America
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Arts Languages and Cultures
Abstract
The UN estimates that around 50% of Indigenous people in Latin America have Internet access, compared to 67% for the continent as a whole. But on both sides of this connectivity gap, young people are by far the largest user group. In the past 20 years, Indigenous organisations in Latin America have developed multiple digital communication platforms through which they actively participate in local, national and international agendas. Nevertheless, racism, discrimination and poverty remain endemic. This project explores how some of the most vulnerable populations in Latin America - young Mapuche and Kichwa Indigenous people in Argentina, Chile and Ecuador - combine art, social media and new technology as tools of self-expression, resistance, and interaction with the wider world.
The transformative impact of digital technology and the Internet on youth culture is undeniable. So too is the importance of cultural creation and consumption as a means of self-expression and community formation for young people. However, in the Global South, research still tends to focus on development indicators like connectivity in relation to education and employment. This neglects the obvious question: "What do young Indigenous people actually do with digital technology?" In the 1990s, analogue technologies like community radios and fanzines were vital in shaping and expressing a modern urban Indigenous identity and forging new links between politics and the arts. For young Indigenous people today, this role is filled by the Internet, digital media and content-sharing platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, all of which have had a fundamental impact on how culture is created, disseminated and consumed. This makes studying online cultures, and the social interactions and communities they generate, vital in order to understand the systemic racism and social disadvantage faced by Indigenous youth and the strategies they use to address them. In doing so, this project challenges homogenised understandings of Indigenous cultures that inadvertently reinforce intersecting inequalities and marginalise Indigenous young people within and outside their communities.
This interdisciplinary project combines ethnographic case studies of, and collaborations with, young Mapuche and Andean Kichwa creators and community members. Online ethnography will map online youth cultures across different social media platforms. Given the enduring importance of territory, local communities and face-to-face interaction for both Indigenous and subcultural life, we will also carry out face-to-face ethnography to understand the symbiotic relationship between online and offline culture and communities. We will combine these approaches with a hermeneutic reading of cultural products produced by young Indigenous creators - music, video, animation, photography, etc. - to better understand the specific discourses, meanings and communities they facilitate.
A collaboration between researchers in the UK, Argentina and Ecuador, the project will produce a series of academic articles of benefit to scholars interested in Indigenous peoples, youth cultures and digital media in Latin America and beyond. A website, online exhibition and public events in the UK and Latin America will showcase cultural products by young Indigenous creators and facilitate discussions about the challenges they face. All of these materials will contribute to a report on young Indigenous people's use of new media in cultural production and consumption, to be circulated among state agencies, Indigenous organisations and national and international NGOs. This will aim to make a contribution to existing programmes that focus on social inclusion and providing support to young Indigenous artists. Finally, this work can also provide insights into the future of Indigenous movements and communities more broadly, and feed into wider discussions about the decolonisation of social media.
The transformative impact of digital technology and the Internet on youth culture is undeniable. So too is the importance of cultural creation and consumption as a means of self-expression and community formation for young people. However, in the Global South, research still tends to focus on development indicators like connectivity in relation to education and employment. This neglects the obvious question: "What do young Indigenous people actually do with digital technology?" In the 1990s, analogue technologies like community radios and fanzines were vital in shaping and expressing a modern urban Indigenous identity and forging new links between politics and the arts. For young Indigenous people today, this role is filled by the Internet, digital media and content-sharing platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, all of which have had a fundamental impact on how culture is created, disseminated and consumed. This makes studying online cultures, and the social interactions and communities they generate, vital in order to understand the systemic racism and social disadvantage faced by Indigenous youth and the strategies they use to address them. In doing so, this project challenges homogenised understandings of Indigenous cultures that inadvertently reinforce intersecting inequalities and marginalise Indigenous young people within and outside their communities.
This interdisciplinary project combines ethnographic case studies of, and collaborations with, young Mapuche and Andean Kichwa creators and community members. Online ethnography will map online youth cultures across different social media platforms. Given the enduring importance of territory, local communities and face-to-face interaction for both Indigenous and subcultural life, we will also carry out face-to-face ethnography to understand the symbiotic relationship between online and offline culture and communities. We will combine these approaches with a hermeneutic reading of cultural products produced by young Indigenous creators - music, video, animation, photography, etc. - to better understand the specific discourses, meanings and communities they facilitate.
A collaboration between researchers in the UK, Argentina and Ecuador, the project will produce a series of academic articles of benefit to scholars interested in Indigenous peoples, youth cultures and digital media in Latin America and beyond. A website, online exhibition and public events in the UK and Latin America will showcase cultural products by young Indigenous creators and facilitate discussions about the challenges they face. All of these materials will contribute to a report on young Indigenous people's use of new media in cultural production and consumption, to be circulated among state agencies, Indigenous organisations and national and international NGOs. This will aim to make a contribution to existing programmes that focus on social inclusion and providing support to young Indigenous artists. Finally, this work can also provide insights into the future of Indigenous movements and communities more broadly, and feed into wider discussions about the decolonisation of social media.
Organisations
Publications
| Title | Noche de construcciones poƩticas de identidad |
| Description | The output was a free event showcasing interdisciplinary and intercultural creative dialogues by young Indigenous Mapuche artists from southern Argentina and Chile, combining music, singing, poetry, performance, and dance. It took place on 26 April 2024 at 20:00, at Radio Nacional Bariloche. The performance was broadcast and streamed live. The auditorium was at full capacity (80 people). Performers included: - María Lew - Maxi Flores - Ayliñ Wagvlen - Weway, featuring Ivana Puel Catriel, Yuliana Paredes, Melisa Cabrapan Duarte, and Malen Nawel - Pukka Malen Curipan |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | The event successfully connected previously unacquainted Indigenous Mapuche artists from different regions. Through their shared performance experience, participants established meaningful relationships and discussed potential future collaborations, creating new networks for Indigenous artistic expression. The event was broadcast live, which allowed people nationally to get to know these young Mapuche artists, who are usually sidelined in national media. This national exposure provided visibility to creative voices that typically receive limited mainstream attention, challenging prevailing media representations of Indigenous peoples and offering audiences direct access to contemporary Mapuche artistic expressions. The broadcast created a platform for these artists to showcase their work beyond geographic boundaries, potentially expanding their professional opportunities while contributing to a more diverse cultural landscape in national media. |
| Title | Nuevos imaginarios del sur |
| Description | This performance brought together Indigenous Mapuche artists from southern Argentina and Chile with undergraduate drama students from the National University of Río Negro (Argentina) and the University of Concepción (Chile) in Bariloche, Argentina, from 25 to 28. Over the course of three days, the artists and students collaborated to create a theatrical performance that was presented on 28 April at a local cultural centre. The free event drew approximately 300 attendees. The performance was jointly produced by the research project, two theatre collectives (the Mapuche theatre group El Katango and the Chilean ensemble La Patriótico Interesante), and the universities of Río Negro and Concepción. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | The performance emerged from a three-day collaboration (April 25-27) between artists and students, facilitated by the Mapuche theatre group El Katango and Chilean group La Patriótico Interesante. The project created a space for Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants, mostly young people, to examine perceptions of Indigenous identity from both external and internal perspectives. The initiative aimed to explore how artistic practices might address issues of racism, stereotyping, and discrimination while creating opportunities for dialogue and exchange between different cultural groups. It was also aimed to raise awareness among the local community of Bariloche about the issues affecting Mapuche Indigenous people. The performance reached a significant audience of approximately 300 attendees from the local community. The collaboration gained additional reach through media coverage in local and regional press, and through social media dissemination by participating organisations and universities. It was also declared of "Municipal Interest" by the Bariloche City Council. This project created impact through the formation of new artistic networks among previously disconnected Mapuche artists, the establishment of cross-border institutional relationships between universities and theatre groups, and increased visibility for Indigenous cultural perspectives in a region with historically complex Indigenous-settler relations. Several participants reported the performance challenged their preconceptions about Indigenous cultural identity, suggesting the event succeeded in its aim to address stereotyping through artistic expression. |
| Description | One of the provisional findings of our project is that, whilst many young Indigenous artists-activists engage with traditional forms of activism through community organisations and artistic expressions, a significant number have embraced social media as an alternative platform. These digital spaces enable them to promote their cultural production whilst experimenting with what we have termed "micro-" or "playful" digital activism. This emerging form of activism differs fundamentally from traditional approaches through its integration with entertainment culture and algorithmic distribution. Unlike traditional activism's confrontational rhetoric and organised protests, the social media activism of young Indigenous people operates through subtle, everyday cultural performances embedded within viral trends. For instance, Mapuche influencer Sofy Waikil, with over 250,000 TikTok followers, adapts popular trends like "Get Ready With Me" to showcase her community's culture in an accessible and entertaining way. This approach helps countering the stigmatisation of Indigenous Mapuche people as terrorists perpetuated by Chilean and Argentine conservative media and political establishments. Another finding is that TikTok and Instagram - the predominant platforms used by young Mapuche and Kichwa people - facilitate a novel form of pan-Indigenous solidarity that transcends geographic and linguistic boundaries. Young Indigenous creators from diverse communities, such as David Mainagua (Kichwa), replicate viral challenges created by other Indigenous social media personalities from different regions. By circulating these common templates and adapting them to their specific cultural contexts, they articulate anti-racist messages that simultaneously reflect their particular cultures whilst building transnational connections. However, this transnational Indigenous solidarity emerges not necessarily from deliberate political organising but from shared memetic practices. In other words, Indigenous creators typically adapt already-viral videos to maximise visibility. Since it is algorithmic virality that partly defines this pan-Indigenous solidarity that is connecting young Indigenous activists from Alaska to Patagonia, questions arise about its capacity to develop into a wider anti-racist, anti-colonial movement. We have also observed a replication of disparities between Global North and Global South discourses existing in non-Indigenous spaces, as young Mapuche and Kichwa TikTok users often replicate trends originated by Indigenous creators from the US and Canada, with the reverse flow occurring rarely. Nevertheless, these platforms can facilitate personal connections beyond algorithmically determined virality. Prior to participating in the concert and workshop organised by the project in Manchester, Malen Curipan (a Mapuche singer-songwriter from Argentina), Rayen Rupayan (a Mapuche activist from Chile) and members of Runa Rap (a Kichwa hip hop group from Ecuador) connected on Instagram and subsequently tagged each other in posts during their UK visit. This created a digital network that strengthened their in-person collaborations and continues to foster artistic and political exchange beyond communities and countries. The fact that a face-to-face meeting facilitated these digital connections highlights the enduring importance of physical interactions, even for young Indigenous people who tend to engage more online than adults. Whilst these platforms provide tools for young Indigenous people to express cultural identity and connect globally, some of our collaborating Indigenous artists and activists report experiencing harassment, algorithmic shadowbanning when discussing sensitive topics like land rights, and arbitrary content removals when using Indigenous languages that moderation systems fail to recognise. They feel compelled to balance cultural authenticity with global digital engagement to produce content that is both 'trendy' and potentially viral, creating hybrid expressions that resonate with multiple audiences. Runa Rap denominates this 'neo-tradicional culture'. This balancing act potentially risks oversimplifying complex Indigenous issues, a concern that some participants have noted creates tensions within their communities. Similar tensions have emerged for those who have monetised their online presence, as other community members - both adults and youth -criticise the embracement of an economic model that they believe ultimately commodifies Indigenous cultural expressions. Critics argue this transforms cultural content into engagement-generating material that primarily benefits platform owners and individual Indigenous influencers rather than Indigenous communities as a whole. The continued tension between the decolonial potential of digital platforms and their limitations as corporate-owned spaces remains central to our inquiry. While it is premature to draw definitive conclusions, our ongoing work suggests that young Indigenous digital activists are not passive consumers of technology but rather creative agents who appropriate digital tools in ways that both reflect and transform their cultural heritage and political aspirations. At the same time, they do it in digital spaces that are highly constrained by the platforms' architecture and affordances, the business model generated by social media, and the replication of offline racism and discrimination. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings on Indigenous youth digital activism could be taken forward by educational institutions, Indigenous community organisations, digital rights advocates, and social media researchers to develop culturally responsive digital literacy programmes, inform platform policy reforms, and create ethical frameworks for supporting Indigenous cultural expression in digital spaces. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Government Democracy and Justice Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| Description | Whilst it is premature to assess the full impact of the project, promising developments have already emerged. Following our Manchester workshop and public event, participating Mapuche and Kichwa artists have initiated substantive discussions about cross-cultural artistic collaborations and joint political initiatives that transcend traditional geographic and linguistic boundaries. These emerging networks represent tangible outcomes of our research methodology. The project's public engagement activities, particularly the concert at the Cervantes Institute in Manchester, have effectively introduced British audiences to contemporary Indigenous creative expression, challenging prevalent stereotypical representations. Media coverage of these events in both UK outlets and publications in Argentina and Ecuador has significantly amplified the visibility of these young Indigenous creators beyond their usual audiences. This exposure has created new platforms for their voices and artistic innovations, demonstrating how academic research can facilitate meaningful cultural exchange and public education. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2024 |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Interview to Malen Curipan |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Malen Curipan, an artist-collaborator who was been working with the project, was interviewed by the regional newspaper Diario Río Negro, about her trip to Manchester to participate in events organised by the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.rionegro.com.ar/sociedad/malen-una-joven-de-bariloche-expondra-en-la-universidad-de-manc... |
| Description | Interview with EcuaMashi (Kichwa digital indigenous news broadcaster) during Pawkar Raymi festival in Santiago, Chile, January 2025. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Joseph Quick, Postdoctoral Research Associate for the project, was interviewed by EcuaMashi, a prominent Indigenous Kichwa digital news broadcaster with correspondents across multiple continents. The interview focused on his participation in the Pawkar Raymi festival in Santiago, Chile in January 2025. This important Indigenous celebration is observed in various countries by Kichwa emigrants. EcuaMashi's coverage highlights the festival's cultural significance and international reach. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Interview: "Pukka Malen: de Bariloche a Manchester" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Malen Curipan, an Indigenous artists who has been collaborating with the project, was interviewed by the local website ANBariloche about her trip to Manchester to participate in project events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.anbariloche.com.ar/noticias/2024/12/03/96349-pukka-malen-de-bariloche-a-manchester |
| Description | Organisation of cultural event: Resonant Territories |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Free musical and dance event co-organised with the Cervantes Institute in Manchester and the radio show "Somos con Cecilia Ramos" (ALL FM), featuring artists that have been collaborating with the project, who came from Ecuador, Argentina, Chile and Germany to perform for free. Attendance: 150 people. The artists who performed were: Pukka Malen, Runa Rap, Luma Creations and Las Warmis. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://cultura.cervantes.es/manchester/en/Territorios-resonantes:-sonidos-de-la-Am%C3%A9rica-latina... |
| Description | Participation in radio show "Somos con Cecilia Ramos" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The project's Principal Investigator, Dr. Ignacio Aguiló, was invited to appear twice on 'Somos con Cecilia Ramos,' Manchester's premier radio programme for the Latin American community (with an average audience of 20,000 listeners). During these appearances on 18 and 25 February 2025, Dr. Aguiló discussed the project's goals and findings, and the public engagement events taking place that week. For the second appearance, two of the project's artist-collaborators - Runa Rap from Otavalo, Ecuador, and Pukka Malen from Bariloche, Argentina - joined the broadcast, participating in interviews and performing live on the show. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024,2025 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EBUdB6Xy7/ |
| Description | Pawkar Peguche |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Pawkar Raymi is one of the foremost Indigenous celebrations in the Otavalo region, celebrated in Kichwa communities from February to early March. In the community of Peguche, Pawkar Raymi features cultural celebrations, sports competitions, and music concerts, attracting tens of thousands of attendees, including many who live abroad. Recognised as Ecuador's intangible heritage by the National Ministry of Culture and Heritage and the National Institute of Cultural Heritage, it has been a vital expression of Indigenous Kichwa identity and culture for almost three decades. Our collaboration with the 2024 organising committee facilitated funding for live broadcasts on social media of concerts featuring Andean musical genres, and the 'mundialito' Indigenous football championship, aligning with our project's focus on digital engagement among young Indigenous Kichwa individuals with cultural content. Highlights of Pawkar Peguche 2024 included the Noche Internacional (10th February 2024), featuring musical performances by Kichwa artists based in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Belgium, drawing approximately 16,500 in-person attendees and 55,000 online viewers, and the Runakay (11th February 2024), which opened with a ritual cleansing ceremony and required that attendees arrive in ethnic dress to enjoy the music of bands originating in Peguche. The Runakay drew about 12,000 in-person participants and 45,700 online viewers. The project's partnership with the University of Manchester and the AHRC was publicly acknowledged during the festival's programme presentation (which included the mayor's presence), the traditional football match marking its commencement, various communications throughout the event, and was featured on the official poster. Pawkar Peguche not only serves as a significant cultural and tourist event in the region, but also functions as a vital connection point for the extensive Indigenous Otavaleño diaspora abroad, who were able to engage with the festival online through social media platforms. The collaboration served as a valuable opportunity to expand our network of contacts. The PDRA Joe Quick, who was conducting fieldwork in Otavalo at the time, benefited from full access to all areas of the festival. This allowed him to carry out interviews with key individuals and participant and non-participant observation. Additionally, it represented a gesture of reciprocity towards a community often wary of researchers from the Global South, aiming to counter perceptions of "academic extractivism" reminiscent of historical colonial practices. While the Pawkar festival has recently concluded, it remains premature to assess the event's impact and the potential medium-term implications of our collaboration. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/pawkarpeguche2024 |
| Description | Pawkar Raymi Indigenous Fashion Show Livestream |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a live screening of the Pawkar Raymi Indigenous Fashion Show, part of the events of the Indigenous festival Pawkar Raimy held in Peguche, Ecuador, in February 2025. This livestream was co-sponsored by the Deptarment of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Public talk: Social Media & Digital Research in Anthropology. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Public talk delivered on 27 February 2025 by the PDRA Joseph Quick as part of the "Anthropology Day" Open House organised by the Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |