In this article we examine the social disputes involving the Mapuche communities of Cautin province during the agricultural reform period in Chile. For this purpose we analyze journalistic documentation (mainly El Diario Austral, the most important newspaper of the region) and governmental files (essentially the Intendencia de Cautin section stored in the Archivo Regional de la Araucania). First, we contextualize the research, offering a review of the historical precedents to the Mapuche conflict and the general background of the agrarian and indigenous question in Chile during the years spanned by our research. Then we focus on the analysis of indigenous social disputes in the Cautin province, in particular the land takeovers (tomas de fundos) that were the main Mapuche expression of protest. This supports the conclusion, first, that these were the most important indigenous disputes since the military occupation of the Araucania region; second, that the land takeovers achieved their main aim, that is, to increase land expropriations in favour of the Mapuche communities; and, lastly, that certain sweeping generalizations on land takeovers and the participation of indigenous peoples are now refutable.