In the period from end of the nineteenth century to the third decade of the twentieth, Chile consolidates the occupation of the previously autonomous indigenous enclave of Araucanía. At the same time, scientific curiosity of Chilean and foreign scholars manifests itself regarding the culture of the Mapuche people and their language (Mapudungun). In this context, the figure arises of the educator Manuel Manquilef, who is considered as the first Mapuche writer. He was first an informant and collaborator at the service of one of these scholars, and later he becomes an author and translator of ethnographic narratives himself, (from Mapudungun to Spanish), as well as poetry translator (from Spanish to Mapudungun). In this paper we try, by means of a glottopolitical approach, to understand how this native intellectual forges a representation of the indigenous language through his work as a transcriber, writer and translator. For this purpose, we build upon an analysis of his orthographic and translation practices and strategies.