The main objective of this article is to introduce the case of the Puel Nahuelbuta Indigenous Development Area (Mapuche, Chile) as a design practice that fosters local autonomy and, at the same time, contributes to the debate on radical alternative imaginaries towards post-patriarchal and post-capitalist social and cultural relations. In this context, the Az Mapu (knowledge of the natural order of the territory) rationality is important as a concept in the right way round indigenous territory and its governance. A second factor that stabilises the design practice of local autonomy is Kimün (ancestral philosophy or wisdom). Ixtrofil Mogen (living in biodiversity) and Küme Mogen (living well/good living), being the ability to reflect according to the experiences, knowledge and circumstances faced by a person or group, are central. The questioning of these notions highlights the controversy between social justice, indigenous social work and indigenous traditional knowledge.