- Key People:
- CaupolicĂĄn
- Lautaro
- Related Topics:
- South American Indian
- Mapuche
- Huilliche
- Picunche
Araucanian
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Who are the Araucanian people?
The Araucanians, now known as Mapuche, are the most numerous group of Indigenous peoples in South America. They are concentrated in the valleys and basins of south-central Chile, from the BiobĂo River to the ToltĂ©n River. Smaller populations reside in west-central Argentina.
Historically, the Spanish distinguished three Araucanian groups: the Picunche, Mapuche, and Huilliche. The Mapuche were farmers known for resisting Spanish and Chilean control for 350 years, forming alliances and adopting horses in battle. By the end of the 17th century, the Picunche had been assimilated into Spanish society. After the War of the Pacific (1879â84), the Chileans subdued the remaining Mapuche, settling them on reservations.
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Where do the Araucanian people live?
The Araucanian people, also known as Mapuche, are Indigenous South Americans primarily residing in south-central Chile, from the BiobĂo River to the ToltĂ©n River. A smaller population lives in NeuquĂ©n provincia, west-central Argentina.
Historically, the Spanish distinguished three Araucanian groups: the Picunche, Mapuche, and Huilliche. The Mapuche were the most resistant to Spanish domination, maintaining their independence until the late 19th century. Today, the region of AraucanĂa in southern Chile remains home to many Mapuche people.
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What language do the Araucanian people speak?
The Araucanians, now known as Mapuche, historically consisted of three groups: the Picunche, Mapuche, and Huilliche. The Mapuche spoke the Mapudungun language, with approximately 250,000 speakers in the early 21st century. The term Araucanian also refers to the language spoken by these Indigenous people, which constitutes an independent language family. The Mapuche primarily reside in the Central Valley of Chile, south of the BiobĂo River, with a smaller population in west-central Argentina.
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What is traditional life like for the Araucanian people?
The Araucanians, primarily the Mapuche, traditionally lived in scattered farming villages throughout the Central Valley of south-central Chile. They cultivated corn, beans, squash, potatoes, chili peppers, and other vegetables. They also fished, hunted, and raised guinea pigs for meat. Llamas served as pack animals and a source of wool, with wealth measured by herd size.
Resisting Spanish domination from the 16th to 18th centuries, the Mapuche formed military, political, and economic alliances, learning to use horses in battle. They successfully resisted Spanish and Chilean control for 350 years. After defeat by the Chilean army in the 19th century, they signed treaties and settled on reservations further south.
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How have the Araucanian people interacted with other groups in history?
The Araucanian people, comprising the Picunche, Mapuche, and Huilliche groups, had varied interactions with other groups throughout history.
The Picunche, living under Inca influence by the 15th century, were the first to encounter the Spanish around 1536. Accustomed to outside rule, they offered little resistance and were assimilated into Spanish society by the end of the 17th century. Similarly, the Huilliche in the south were too few to resist the Spanish and were also assimilated.
In contrast, the Mapuche were more resistant to foreign domination. They formed alliances to resist Spanish control for 350 years in the Araucanian wars. They adopted horses for battle and successfully maintained a boundary at the BiobĂo River for three centuries.
After the War of the Pacific (1879â84), the Chileans subdued the remaining Mapuche, who had been raiding German-speaking settlements. Subsequently, the Mapuche signed treaties and settled on reservations.
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What challenges and changes have the Araucanian people faced in recent times?
The Araucanian, or Mapuche, people of south-central Chile faced significant challenges and changes in recent times. After Chile annexed territory in the War of the Pacific (1879â84), the Mapuche were subdued and settled on reservations, marking the end of their independence.
The Mapuche experienced further transformations as Chileans and European colonists settled in their region, encouraged by the national government. This settlement particularly took off with the arrival of German colonists in the 1850s. Despite these changes, many Mapuche continue to live in the AraucanĂa region, but often in precarious conditions.
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Araucanian, any member of a group of Indigenous South Americans that are now concentrated in the fertile valleys and basins of south-central Chile, from the BiobĂo River in the north to the ToltĂ©n River in the south.
Although the pre-Columbian Araucanians did not themselves recognize political or cultural unity above the village level, the Spanish distinguished three Araucanian populations geographically: the Picunche living in the north between the Choapa and BiobĂo rivers, the Mapuche inhabiting the middle valleys, and the Huilliche dwelling in the south between the ToltĂ©n River and ChiloĂ© Island. The first Araucanians encountered by the Spanish (c. 1536) were the Picunche, who had lived under Inca cultural influence or political domination since the 15th century. The Picunche were accustomed to outside rule and put up very little resistance to the Spanish. By the end of the 17th century, the Picunche had been assimilated into Spanish society and had become part of the peasant population. The southernmost people, the Huilliche, were too few and too scattered to resist the Spanish for long. They, like the Picunche, were assimilated into the rural population of Chile.
At the time of the Spanish arrival in Chile, most of central Chile was settled by scattered populations of Mapuche farmers who grew corn (maize), beans, squash, potatoes, and other vegetables. They hunted, fished, and kept guinea pigs for meat; llamas were both pack animals and sources of wool for weaving fine fabrics that were traded with the Inca to the north. They had established metalsmithing and pottery-making traditions.
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The Mapuche were more numerous and less tolerant of foreign domination than the Picunche of the north. In the face of the Spanish threat, the Mapuche formed widespread alliances above the village level, adopted the strategic use of horses in battle, and, in a series of conflicts called the Araucanian wars, successfully resisted Spanish and Chilean control for 350 years.
When Pedro de Valdiviaâs expedition occupied central Chile and founded Santiago in 1541, it met with strong resistance from the Mapuche. In 1550 Valdivia pressed southward and founded ConcepciĂłn at the mouth of the BiobĂo River, but in 1553 he and his followers were defeated by the Mapuche under Lautaro, a chief who had spent about two years in Valdiviaâs service. After Valdiviaâs disaster the Mapuche nearly captured Santiago, but the death of Lautaro on the battlefield and a smallpox epidemic among the Indigenous population saved the colony. Another chief, CaupolicĂĄn, continued the fight until his capture by treachery and subsequent execution by the Spaniards in 1558. Thereafter the Spaniards pushed the Mapuche into the forest region south of the BiobĂo, which remained the boundary between the two peoples for three centuries.
After the Chileans had annexed slices of Peruvian and Bolivian territory in the War of the Pacific (1879â84), they subdued the remaining Mapuche in the south; the Mapuche had begun to raid German-speaking settlements there in the late 1840s and had thus prevented further expansion into the Araucanian homeland. After their defeat by the Chilean army, the Mapuche signed treaties with the Chilean government and were settled on reservations farther to the south.