Araucanian Indian
Mapuche woman weaving, Chile. The South American Mapuche Indians once lived in small farming villages throughout the Central Valley of Chile. Having struggled to maintain their lifestyle for nearly 400 years, most now live on reservations in the area.
Member of a group of South American peoples native to central Chile and the Argentine pampas. They were agriculturalists and hunters, as well as renowned warriors, defeating the Incas and resisting the Spanish for 200 years. Originally, they lived in small villages; some 200,000 still survive in reserves. Scholars are divided over whether the Araucanian language belongs to the Penutian or the Andean-Equatorial family.
| The most important divisions of the group are the Mapuche and Huilliche. Formerly government rested in four toquis or princes, the chief of whom was the Great Tarqui. Rank was derived from martial prowess, wealth, generosity, and eloquence in speech. Araucanian Indians believe in a Supreme Being, who is ambisexual, addressed as either ‘Father’ or ‘Mother’. |
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