Mapuche Life

Before contact, the Mapuche Indians lived throughout the central valley of Patagonia. Known for cultivating corn, beans, squash, potatoes, peppers, and other vegetables, the Mapuche also fished and hunted (“Mapuche”). In this society, wealth was determined by the size of one’s llama heard as it was a source of wool (“Mapuche”). These tribes existed in Argentina and Chile before the arrival of the Spanish and have since developed with the times.

This video shows the ways in which the Mapuche struggle to hold onto traditions such as their language. As one of the oldest native groups in Argentina, the history of the Mapuche peoples shows the evolution of Southern Argentina. Since the introduction of Europeans, the Mapuche have struggled and fought to retain their land and rights, learning to ride horses to battle the Spanish, fighting for land ownership from the Chilean government, and so forth (“Mapuche”). Today these tribes live on reservations that they themselves own but stand to lose this land if they are unable to pay their debts (“Mapuche”). This ties into larger themes of economic and social development, land ownership, and power struggles between the government and native groups.

Source:

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Mapuche.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., January 14, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mapuche.