On these pages, my proposal is to reflect on the construction of a shared identity by an indigenous community. To this end, I will focus on the current debate at the heart of the Cologne Cushamen Mapuche population on their past constructions and on the definitions of their communal leadership. Based on their past experiences of inter-ethnic relations, they are currently reflecting on their relations with the nation state and the cultural uses they consider most appropriate for transiting the contact zone. These inter-ethnic spaces, which the community perceives as novel, have been the result of multicultural rhetoric and legislations which, at international, national and local levels, have prevailed in recent years. The new agendas and the emergence of new places of social interaction have prompted Cushamen’s people to discuss their own uses of history, tradition and culture. I therefore propose to describe the different cultural orientations underlying the construction of the ‘Argentinian landscape’ as a touch stone to think of the notions of ‘identity’ and ‘cultural contact’.