Trained as a cultural and political geographer, Bastien Sepúlveda developed expertise in the field of Indigenous Geographies that he tackled in diverse terrains, and with complementary perspectives. This reflection started out in the scope of his Ph.D. Thesis (Université de Rouen, 2011), for which he conducted an in-depth study in Chile on the management of protected areas claimed by Mapuche communities as part of their historical lands. This work was then enhanced through two successive postdoctoral research projects, first in Canada (Université Laval and Réseau DIALOG, 2012-2013), then in Chile (Centro de Estudios Interculturales e Indígenas, 2013-2015), during which Bastien Sepúlveda became interested in the urban dimension of indigenous territories. While enabling him to apprehend the ever more central place of the city with regard to indigenous territorial recompositions, these experiences led him to observe that this space did not get the attention its importance deserved.

From this observation emerged some epistemological questioning on the formation and the evolution of Indigenous Geographies as a specific field of research. This questioning gave rise to the INDIGEO project, led by Bastien Sepúlveda in the Territoires, Villes, Environnement & Société (TVES) research team at the Université de Lille, from 2016 to 2021. In this same scope, he has undertaken fieldwork in New Caledonia on the development of tourism in Kanak tribes.

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