The toughest indigenous people of South America

Feb 15, 2008 22:31 GMT  ·  By

The Araucans are Amerindian tribes (Mapuche, Picunche, Huiliche) habiting the Arauco area in the center of Chile which nowadays make the most of the Indigenous population in Chile.

Arauco is a long valley limited by the Andes to the east, with altitudes of up to 6,000 m (20,000 ft) and by coastal low mountains to the west. The north of the valley has a Mediterranean climate, with chaparral vegetation made of acacias and laurels, while the southern clime is cooler and wetter, and the chaparral is replaced by forests of southern beeches (Nothofagus), cedars (Austrocedrus) and alerces (Fitzroya). In the Andes, there are forests of Araucaria pines.

The oldest information about Araucans comes from 1450, when Incas from Peru invaded the area. In 1541, Spaniards led by Pedro de Valdivia started the conquest of Arauco. This resulted in one of the hardest conquests made by the Spanish in Americas, due to the tough resistance made by the Araucans. Fights continued until the 18th century and, in the 19th century, a large revolt of the Arauncans against the Chilean government started. Even today, the Araucans preserve many of their habits, like the dances made by men mimicking the rhea (American ostrich), adorned with beautiful feathers of this bird and accompanied by the monotonous rhythm marked by women with drums and flutes.

The Araucans lived in small villages made of 8-10 huts, always close to a spring or river. The villages were defended by strong palisades. The huts were ordinary, solid, made with large Araucaria trunks that served as columns and beams, sustaining leaned, entangled branches which, in their turn, supported the roof made of branches, leaves and straws. The huts of the chiefs were very large, up to 20 m (66 ft) long and 10 m (33 ft) wide and, during the conquest epoch, some huts hosted up to 90 persons and were up to 100 m (330 ft) long.

The huts did not have windows and were aerated only through the roof holes made for smoke exit. Generally, in one hut one man lived with his wives and children; each wife had a small chamber. There was no furniture, and people slept on skin carpets and ate sitting on the ground; just a few bags and baskets guarded the goods of the family.

When somebody died, the relatives called the shaman who proceeded to mummify the body. They extracted its entrails and then located it over a type of stretcher above a fire fueled with wood, producing a lot of smoke. Once the body was dried and smoked, it was placed in a coffin and brought to the hill serving as cemetery. The coffin was buried and, next to it beverages, food and clothes were placed; the tomb was covered by stones and, around the tomb, there was a wood palisade and, at the head of the tomb, there were high posts with human shapes. If the dead were warriors, their horses were sacrificed and the skins of the horses were put between sticks next to the tomb.

The Araucans believed that the spirits of the dead chiefs were going to live inside the volcanoes or in the stars of the Milky Way: the warriors went to the sky and the sorcerers at the bottom of the volcanoes. The rays, thunders and storms were thought to be caused by the aerial battle between the spirits of the Indigenous people and those of the Spaniards.

The Arauncans belong to the same racial type as the Quechua (Inca) of Peru. They are short, robust, with large thorax and short limbs. The head is wide and short; the face is rounded or almost square, with marked cheekbones, narrow forehead, large mouth, straight nose and small, dark eyes. The Araucans proved to be bellicose, indomitable, proud and noble, facts that triggered the admiration of the Spaniards.

On the other side, Araucans were familiar with weaving, bronze metallurgy, gold and silver processing, skin processing and pottery. From bones and tough stones, they made arrow and spear tips, hand axes, knives and scrapers.

The Araucan woman was bought by her husband. The father received a large dowry made of llamas, corn, blankets, clothes and food. Later, when the Araucans encountered the horse via the Spaniards, the main element of the dowry was these animals and their harnesses. Before the matrimonial ceremony, the groom had to kidnap the bride, in a fake ritual. In a moment, the father and the brothers of the bride started the "search" for the fugitives; as the elopement was unfolding, they faked they could not reach them and resigned. A few days later, the spouses returned to the village and the matrimony was celebrated, all the relatives of the both spouses participating in a great feast. The kidnapping habit still persists, even amongst Christianized communities.

The Araucans were farmers, cultivating corn, potato, squash, quinine, peanuts, oca, sweet potato and kidney bean. Fields were cultivated commonly, by both men and women. They did not know fertilizers, and soon the fields got exhausted, that's why they were left fallow once at three years. The Araucans collected many wild fruits, seeds and plants, like pine seeds, but also hazelnuts, walnuts, mushrooms. The base of the alimentation was the corn, consumed green or as thin tortillas made of its flour, eaten like bread. A refreshing beverage was made from corn flour fermented in the water. As spices, chilli peppers and salt were used. Corn flour was achieved using metates (flat stones for grinding). Potatoes were cooked with meat. The only domesticated animals of the Araucans were the dog and the llama, whose wool was used for making clothes and blankets. But they did not use the llama as much as the Incas, and the animal was replaced, during the arrival of the Europeans, by mules (for transport), sheep (for wool) and horses.

The Araucans were good swimmers and runners. A game called chueca, resembling grass hockey, was played by men, women and children. It was practiced with a small wool ball and sticks curbed at one end. There were 2 teams of 10-15 players; it was played accompanied by drum and flute sounds and the participants had to perform magic and religious rites of purification before; the ball and the stick were fumigated with tobacco smoke and smeared with blood from a llama, sacrificed for this purpose.

Before starting a war, the Araucans made allies. The tribes reunited and chose a chief, who led them and applied the tactics. A black llama was sacrificed, sign that the hostilities had started. The warriors wore bow and arrows, maces, spears, javelins, shields and axes. In benign cases, the prisoners were made slaves, but usually they were killed, before tremendous tortures. The heart, and sometimes the whole body, was eaten by the winners, who made cups from their skulls and flutes from the large bones. When the war was ended, a white llama was sacrificed and a branch of cinnamon tree was dipped in its blood, as a sign of peace.