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Mapuche (Mapudungun; Che, "People" + Mapu, "of the Land") are the original Amerindian inhabitants of Central and Southern Chile and Southern Argentina. They were known as Araucanos (Araucanians) by the Spaniards but this is now considered pejorative by the people and the term Mapuche is the one most often used by people in conversation and in the media in Chile and Argentina and is the one preferred by them. Contrary to popular belief, the Quechua word arauco (rebel), is not the root of araucano: it is more likely derived from the placename Arauco, meaning "clayey water" in Mapudungun^[1][2]. This article is becoming very long. ... As a Christian ecclesiastical term, Catholic - from the Greek adjective , meaning general or universal[1] - is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as follows: ~Church, (originally) whole body of Christians; ~, belonging to or in accord with (a) this, (b) the church before separation into Greek or Eastern and Latin or... The word evangelicalism usually refers to religious practices and traditions which are found in conservative, almost always Protestant, Christianity. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Diaguita. ... Mapudungun (mapu means earth and dungun means to speak) (also Mapudungu, Araucano, Araukano, Mapuche, Araucanian) is a language isolate spoken in central Chile and west central Argentina by the Mapuche (mapu is earth and che means people) people. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... Quechua (Runa Simi; Kichwa in Ecuador) is a Native American language of South America. ... Arauco, a coastal province of southern Chile, bounded N., E. and S. by the provinces of Concepcion, Bio-bio, Malleco and Cautin. ...

The Mapuche had an economy based on agriculture; their social organisation consisted of extended families, under the direction of a "lonko" or chief, although in times of war they would unite in larger groupings and elect a "toqui" ('axe-bearer') to lead them.

The Mapuche are a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups which shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended between the Aconcagua River and the Argentine pampa. They can be divided into the Picunches who lived in the central valleys of Chile — these integrated with the Inca Empire and later with the Spaniards. The Mapuches who inhabited the Valleys between the Itata and Toltén Rivers. As well as the Huilliches, the Lafkenches, and the Pehuenches. The northern Aonikenk, called Patagons by Ferdinand Magellan, were an ethnic group of the pampa regions that made contact with some Mapuche groups, adopting their language and some culture; they are the Tehuelches. The Aconcagua river rises on the southern slope of the volcano Aconcagua, flows eastward through a broad valley, or bay in the mountains, and enters the Pacific 12 m. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Capital Cuzco (1197-1533) Vilcabamba (1533-1572) (Empire dissolved in reality in 1532-1537, when the Spaniards secured power over Peru) Language(s) Quechua Government Monarchy Sole ruler Sapa Inca History  - Established 1197  - Conquest 1572 Area  - 1527 2,000,000 km2 772,204 sq mi Population  - 1527 est. ... Itata River flows in Bío-Bío Region, southern Chile. ... Huillice is an Araucanian language spoken in Chile. ... 1840s (fanciful) illustration of Patagon chief from near the Straits of Magellan, bedecked in costume of war; from by French explorer Jules Dumont dUrville The Patagones or Patagonian giants are a mythical race of people, who first began to appear in early European accounts of the then little-known... Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese: Fernão de Magalhães, IPA pronunciation: //; Spanish: or Hernando de Magallanes; Spring 1480–April 27, 1521) was a Portuguese maritime explorer who, at the service of Spain, led the first successful attempt to sail around the entire Earth. ... Patagonian camp, 1838 Tehuelches is the collective name of the native tribes of Patagonia. ...

History

Mapuches successfully resisted many attempts by the Inca Empire to subjugate them, despite the lack of nationwide organization. Capital Cuzco (1197-1533) Vilcabamba (1533-1572) (Empire dissolved in reality in 1532-1537, when the Spaniards secured power over Peru) Language(s) Quechua Government Monarchy Sole ruler Sapa Inca History  - Established 1197  - Conquest 1572 Area  - 1527 2,000,000 km2 772,204 sq mi Population  - 1527 est. ...

The Mapuche fought against the Spaniards for over 300 years. Initial conquests of land by the Spanish in the late 16th century were thoroughly repulsed by the Mapuche, such that there were areas where Europeans did not return to until late in the 19th century. One of the main geographical delineation was the Bío-Bío River, which the Mapuche used as a natural frontier of resistance to Spanish and Chilean incursion. The 300 years was not uniformly a period of war and hostility, but rather often a time of substantial trading and interchange between Mapuche and Spanish/Chileans. Nevertheless, the long Mapuche resistance has become primarily known as the War of Arauco, and is immortalized in Alonso de Ercilla's epic poem La Araucana. The Bío-Bío at Concepción close to where it meets the sea The Bio-Bio River is a river in Chile. ... Look up Trade in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Trade centers on the exchange of goods and/or services. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Alonso de Ercilla (1533 - 1594) was a Basque nobleman from Spain, and author of epic poem La Araucana. ... La Araucana is an epic poem in Spanish about the Spanish conquest of Chile, by Alonso de Ercilla; it is also known in English as The Araucaniad. ...

When Chile split from the Spanish crown, some Mapuche chiefs sided with the colonists; most, however, regarded the matter, if they regarded it at all, with relative indifference. This lack of concern illuminates the degree to which the Mapuche perceived that they were their own people on their own land, and did not realize the potential threat the colonists would pose to their culture. After Chile's independence from Spain, the Mapuche coexisted and traded with their neighbours, who prudently remained north of the Bío-Bío River, although clashes occurred frequently.

Finally, partially on the pretext of crushing a French filibusterer, Orelie-Antoine de Tounens, who had declared himself King of Araucania, the Chilean state overwhelmed the Mapuche lands in the mid- to late-1880s. Significant factors leading to this conquest were increased Chilean population pressures on the Mapuche borders, and the fact that by the 1880s Chile consisted of territory to the north and south of the Mapuche heartlands. In essence, the Mapuche were being demografically squeezed from the North and the South, and were militarily so-squeezed during the war of conquest. Further, Chile in the 1880s, as a result of its preparation for and its victory in the War of the Pacific against Bolivia and Peru, found itself with a large standing army and a relatively modern arsenal for the period (most concretely seen and felt in the repeating rifle). These were turned upon the Mapuche. Orelie-Antoine I, would-be-King of Araucania and Patagonia. ... Combatants Republic of Peru Republic of Bolivia Republic of Chile Commanders Juan Buendía Andrés Cáceres Miguel Grau Manuel Baquedano Patricio Lynch Arturo Prat Strength Peru-Bolivian Army Peruvian Navy Army of Chile Chilean Navy The War of the Pacific, sometimes called the Saltpeter War in reference to... A repeating rifle is a single barreled rifle containing multiple rounds of ammunition. ...

Using a combination of force and diplomacy, Chile's government and some Mapuche leaders signed a treaty incorporating the Araucanian territories into Chile. The immediate impact of the war was widespread starvation and disease. It has been claimed that the Mapuche population dropped from a total of one-half million to that of 25,000 within a generation.^[3], though the latter figure has been called an exaggeration from a variety of authorities. In the post-conquest period, however, there was a brutal internment of a significant percentage of the Mapuche, the wholesale destruction of the Mapuche herding, agricultural and trading economies, the wholesale looting of Mapuche property (real and personal - including a large amount of silver jewellery to replenish the Chilean national coffers), and the creation and institutionalization of a system of reserves called reducciones along lines similar to North American reservation systems. Subsequent generations of Mapuche reside in extreme poverty as a direct result of being conquered and pillaged. A female child during the Nigerian-Biafran war of the late 1960s, shown suffering the effects of severe hunger and malnutrition. ... A disease or medical condition is an abnormality of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, distress, or death to the person afflicted or those in contact with the person. ... Earring Jewellery (jewelry in American English) is any piece of fine material used to adorn the human body. ...

Mapuche descendants now live across southern Chile and Argentina; some maintain their traditions and continue living from agriculture, but a growing majority have migrated to cities in search of better economic opportunities. Chile's region IX, continues to have a rural population made up of approximately 80%; there are also substantial Mapuche populations in regions X, VIII and VII. Araucanía is Chiles ninth administrative region from north to south. ... Los Lagos (Spanish The lakes) is Chiles tenth administrative region from north to south. ... Bío-Bío is Chiles eighth administrative region from north to south. ... Maule is Chiles seventh administrative region from north to south. ...

In recent years, there has been an attempt by the Chilean government to redress some of the inequities of the past, by, for example, validating the Mapudungun language and culture by including them in the curriculum of elementary schools around Temuco. Nevertheless, land disputes and violent interactions do continue in some Mapuche areas, particularly in the northern sections of the IX region between and around Triaguen and Lumaco - where a history of conflict continues into the present. Temuco Temuco, which in the mapudungun language means temu water, herbal tree used by Mapuches to cure diseases, is the capital of the IX región (la Araucanía), Chile, and is located 670kms south of Santiago. ...

Representatives from Mapuche organisations joined the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) seeking recognition and protection for their cultural and land rights. Logo of the UNPO The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is a democratic, international organization. ...

Though Japanese and Swiss interests are active in the region that Chileans call "Araucanía" and the Mapuches call "Ngulu Mapu", both of the main forestry companies are Chilean-owned. On land the Mapuches claim is theirs, the firms have planted hundreds of thousands of acres with Monterey pine and eucalyptus trees, species that are not native to the region and that consume large amounts of water and fertilizer.

Chilean exports of wood to the United States, almost all of which come from this southern region, are about $600 million a year and rising. Though an international campaign led by the conservation group Forest Ethics resulted in the Home Depot chain and other leading wood importers agreeing late last year to revise their purchasing policies, to "provide for the protection of native forests in Chile," some Mapuche leaders were not satisfied.

In an effort to defuse tensions, a special government body, the Commission for Historical Truth and New Treatment, issued a report in 2003 calling for drastic changes in Chile's treatment of its indigenous people, more than 80 percent of whom are Mapuches. The recommendations included the formal recognition of political and "territorial" rights for aboriginal peoples, as well as efforts to promote their cultural identity.

In recent years Mapuche activists have been prosecuted under counter-terrorism legislation originally introduced by Pinochet. The law allows prosecutors to withhold evidence from the defence for up to six months, and to conceal the identity of witnesses, who may give evidence in court behind screens.

Culture

Flag of the Mapuche

According to Chilean statistics, most Chilean Mapuche possess some non-aboriginal ancestry, and over 90% of Chile's non-aboriginal population possess Native American ancestry, in varying degrees, although until recently very few Chileans would admit their Native American admixture. There were 604,349 Mapuches according to the census of 2002, making up approximately 4% of the Chilean population, while an estimated 300,000 live on the other side of the Andes in Argentina. Due to the loss of their lands, many Mapuche now live in impoverished conditions in large cities such as Santiago. See also: Demographics of Chile. Mapuche resistance continues, especially against the large forestry companies exploiting traditional lands. Pinochet-era anti-terrorism laws have frequently been used in recent years against certain community leaders and Mapuche political activists. Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Mapuches. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Mapuches. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... The Andes form the longest mountain chain in the world. ... The snowcapped Andes above downtown Santiago Santiago (Spanish:  ) is Chiles capital and largest city. ... Population of Chile from 1950, projected up to 2050 (INE) Chile is a relatively homogeneous country and most of its population is of predominantly Spanish origin, with varying degrees of native Amerindian admixture, the product of racial mixture between colonial Spanish immigrants and native Amerindian tribes. ... A decidous beech forest in Slovenia. ... General Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte1 (born November 25, 1915) was head of the military government that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. ... Terrorist redirects here. ...

At the time of the arrival of Europeans, the Mapuche were capable of sufficiently organizing themselves to create a network of forts and complex defensive buildings. They quickly adopted metal-working and horseback-riding from the Europeans, along with the cultivation of wheat and sheep. In the long 300 year coexistence between the Spanish colonies and the relatively well-delineated autonomous Mapuche regions, the Mapuche also developed a strong tradition of trading with the Spanish/Chileans. It is this which lies at the heart of the Mapuche silver-working tradition, for it was from the large and widely-dispersed quantity of Spanish and Chilean silver coins that the Mapuche wrought their elaborate jewellry, head bands, etc. Metalworking is the craft and practice of working with metals to create parts or structures. ... horse, see Horse (disambiguation). ... Species T. aestivum T. boeoticum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 For the indie rock group see: Wheat (band). ... Species See text. ...

Mapuche languages

Main article: Mapudungun

Mapuche languages are spoken in Chile and to a smaller extent in Argentina. They have two branches: Huilliche and Mapudungun. Although not related to Quechua, some lexical influence is discernible. It is estimated that only about 200,000 full-fluency speakers remain in Chile, and the language still receives only token support in the educational system. Mapudungun (mapu means earth and dungun means to speak) (also Mapudungu, Araucano, Araukano, Mapuche, Araucanian) is a language isolate spoken in central Chile and west central Argentina by the Mapuche (mapu is earth and che means people) people. ... Mapudungun (mapu means earth and dungun means to speak) (also Mapudungu, Araucano, Araukano, Mapuche, Araucanian) is a language isolate spoken in central Chile and west central Argentina by the Mapuche (mapu is earth and che means people) people. ... Quechua (Runa Simi; Kichwa in Ecuador) is a Native American language of South America. ...

Mythology and beliefs

Main article: Mapuche mythology

Central to Mapuche belief is the role of the "Machi" (Shaman). It is usually filled by a woman, following an apprenticeship with an older Machi, and has many of the characteristics typical of shamans. The Machi performs ceremonies for curing diseases, warding off evil, for influencing weather, harvests and social interactions, etc. Machis often have extensive knowledge of Chilean medicinal herbs, though as biodiversity in the Chilean countryside has declined due to commercial agriculture and forestry the dissimination of such knowledge has also declined. In the mythology and beliefs of the Mapuche people, the Machi (Shaman), a role usually filled by older women, is an extremely important part of the Mapuche culture, even today and in parallel with Christianity. ... Look up belief in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A Machi is a shaman or (usually) a good witch in the Mapuche culture of South America; and is also an important character and the Mapuche mythology. ... The shaman is an intellectual and spiritual figure who is regarded as possessing power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, primarily that of a healer ( medicine man). The shaman provides medical care, and serves other community needs during crisis times, via supernatural means (means... Medicinal herbs Achillea millefolium Yarrow Allium sativum Garlic Artemisia absinthium L, Wormwood Sweet sagewort Crataegus spp. ...

The most important beliefs of the Mapuche are expressed in the tale Trentren Vilu y Caicai Vilu, and manifest in the Pillan spirits, the Kalku and Wekufe (evil/illness) spirits, the Chonchon, the Piuchen, the Nguruvilu), etc. Kalku or Calcu, in Chilean folklore and the Mapuche mythology, is a witch or shaman, usually an evil one, but not necessarily. ...

An equally important part of Mapuche belief and society is the remembered history of independence and resistance (from both the Spanish and then Chileans) and of the conquest to the Chileans in the 1870s. Such memories, stories, beliefs, often very local and particularized, are endemic amongst the Mapuche, and are part of what keeps them being the Mapuche. To varying degrees, this history of resistance continues to this day amongst the Mapuche, though at the same time a large majority in Chile would also strongly consider themselves Chilean as a large majority in in Argentina would also consider themselves Argentines.

References

1. ^ Mapuche o Araucano (Spanish)
2. ^ Antecedentes históricos del pueblo araucano (Spanish)
3. ^ Ward Churchill, A Little Matter of Genocide, 109.

See also

• Lautaro
• Caupolican
• Galvarino
• Colocolo
• Arauco War
• Araucaria
• Araucania and Patagonia
• Araucanía
• Mapuche International Link

Lautaro Lautaro (In Mapudungun: Lef-Traru: Speedy Crested Caracara) was a Mapuche military leader and protagonist in the War of Arauco. ... Caupolican was a leader of the Mapuche people of Chile, who decided to choose a supreme war leader in response to the Spanish threat. ... Colocolo may refer to: Colocolo (tribal chief): Araucanian tribal chief Colo-Colo: A Chilean football team Monito del Monte: A South American marsupial This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Species See text. ... The Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia (also called New France) was a micronation founded by a French lawyer and adventurer named Orelie-Antoine de Tounens in southern South America in the mid 19th century. ... Araucanía is Chiles ninth administrative region from north to south. ... Mapuche International Link (MIL) is an organization which campaigns on behalf of the Mapuche people of southern Chile and Argentinia. ...

External links

• Mapuche International Link official website
• Mapuche-nation.org
• Rehue Foundation in Netherland
• Mapulink website