Indigenous education in Chile operates within a context of cultural diversity, underdevelopment and colonialism. This problem explains the tension found in 28 rural schools in the Araucania region of Chile between the knowledge systems of the Mapuche culture and those of Western culture. The study is qualitative-descriptive in design. Participants were teachers, parents and lonkos from Mapuche communities in which the schools are embedded. Semi-structured interviews were carried out and results show the western curricular content predominating over subordinating vernacular knowledge of Mapuche indigenous culture. It is recommended for cultural knowledge of all participants to be equally integrated and promoted. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.