Mapuche
As Mapuche are kwown the prehispanic inhabitants of Central and South Chile and Argentina.
They are also known as the spanish denomination of Araucanos.
Mapuche means people of the land. The had an agricultural based economy and they were social organised on extended families.
The mapuche denomination encloses different ethnic groups which shared a common social and religious structure, as language and economics basis. There influence were extendend between the river Aconcagua and the Argentinian pampa. There are:
- Picunches, in the central valleys of Chile. They integrated with the Incan Empires and then with the Spaniards.
- Mapuches, inhabitants of the Valleys between the Itata and Toltén rivers.
- Huilliches
- Lafkenches
- Pehuenches
Altough they didn't have a national structure, they succesfully resisted the Incan colonization.
As the Spaniards arrived, mapuche fought against them and situating the Bio Bio river as natural frontier they resist against the colonization: this situation is known as War of Arauco. As time went on, there was an statu quo' and traded with Chilean colonial authorities.
When Chile emancipated of Spanish crown, some mapuche chiefs took part of colonial side.
In 1860's Chilean Army put end to the War of Arauco and using the force and the diplomacy signed with some mapuche leaders the incorporation of the araucanian territories to Chilean sovereignity.
Today there are Mapuche descendants in the Southern Chile and Argentina. Some of them live on reservations, but the majority of them are urban.
According Chilean official statistics, the hundred percent of Chilean mapuche has any non-mapuche ancestor; also the more than the 90% of Chilean population has native american (mostly mapuche) ancestors.
Mapuche languages are spoken in Chile and to a smaller extent also in Argentina. It has two branches - Huillice and Mapudungun.
See also
- Lautaro
- Galvarino
- Colo Colo
- War of Arauco