This article deals with the problems of the Mapuche nation; as a concept, as a historical view in contrast to the Chilean political nation and the current challenges of the Mapuche movement. This analysis will be performed in three stages, in the first, we will look at the importance of conceptual history as a historiographic method forgaining more precise access to the conceptual categories that relate to historical time, assessing their scope and significance. Secondly, we will carry out a thorough investigation of the literature to find out what are the different meanings of the concept of 'nation', the various existing trends of interpretation and the theoretical contributions in order to approach the problems of the Mapuche nation, in this space of the Andes, Gulumapu-Araucania. Finally, we will review some of the view points of Mapuche intellectuals who address the problems of the Mapuche nation, including readings on ethnicity and colonialism, in order to quantify their theoretical contribution to the mapuche movement.