Nicholle Clayton
Originally divided into three groups: - Picunche - Mapuche - Huillche Fought Inca and Spanish invaders
The Picunche were defeated immediately The Mapuche and Hilluche resisted for hundreds of years Eventually lost their independence Forced to move south on reducciones (small reservations)
The main group still in Chile are the Mapuche Towns: -Temuco -Villarica -Pucon -Valdivia -Osorno (mostly in the south) Some reservations in Argentina, but most Mapuche Araucanians live in Chile
Most Mapuche and some in Argentina speak Mapudungu, the Araucanian language. Che means people, and mapu means land. So, the meaning of Mapuche is people of the land.
A Mapuche legend: -Cai Cai, the evil serpent, rose out of the ocean to flood the earth. -Tren Tren, her good sister, sleeps in the mountains -The Mapuche are unable to wake Tren Tren up -Thunder, Wind, and Fire are Cai Cai s friends. -They create rain, thunder, and water by stacking up clouds
-A small girl begins to dance, reflecting in Tren Tren s eye, waking Tren Tren up as she laughs. -Cai Cai is insulted and falls down the hill -She breaks the earth and scatters islands everywhere -The water nearly floods Tren Tren s home, but she raises the mountain up towards the sun -Cai Cai falls in a deep pit
Believe in balance between the forces of creation and destruction Recognize forces of good & evil Nature Prayer meetings (machitunes) -ask gods & goddesses for rain and good crops
Malon is a meeting where the Araucanians listen to prophecies and one another s dreams. Roman Catholicism has somewhat mixed in with the Araucanian religion.
Celebrate major Chilean national holidays -Independence Day
-Columbus Day: October 12
Mapuches on reservations continue to celebrate traditional holidays Nquillatun is a very popular festival - 3 days long - Dedicated to gods & goddesses
Major stages of life marked with ceremonies (birth, marriage, death, etc.) - Lonkos (important tribe members) lead ceremonies - Include music, poetry, and legends
Stranger accompanied with a Mapuche welcomed with food and hospitality Stanger who is alone- treated with hostility
Some Mapuche live traditionally Most have moved to find work -poor urban workers -poor health conditions and housing -homes made of adobe -live in traditional huts (rucas) with thatched roofs
Mapuches on reducciones still try to keep the structure of family traditional -includes extended family -usually a leader/chief of the clan Tradition: extended family lead by a lonko -had many children and wives
Family extends to relatives by marriage, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents Efforts are being made to try and not have the family be so closely knit Males are the ones who got out and work, so mainstream culture influences them to decide this Women try keeping traditions alive
Men- trousers and Western-style shirts Women- long skirts, colorful aprons, and scarves (more traditional) Boys- trousers with shirts or sweaters Girls- skirts and sweaters (more Western-style)
Hunting Fishing Crops - Corn - Fruit - The curanto oven is used to this day by a few Mapuches. It steams vegetables and meat that are wrapped in leaves
Children of Mapuche who moved to town in search of work are able to go to school Children on reservations are still taught about Araucanian traditions
Araucanians use special instruments to play their music: - Wooden whistles - Trutrucas (type of flute) - Cultrun (percussion) - Dancing and music are performed for rituals
Mapudungu- poetic singing for reciting: - Legends - Prayers - Stories having to do with life and death - Certain invocations
On reservations: - Farming - Fishing - Make crafts Mapuches in town are urban workers Women help out by selling their crafts at fairs
Several Mapuche are very good boaters The younger ones are big fans of soccer Many fiestas - Religious feast days - Cultural events - Harvests
Weave sweaters and baskets - Use a loom to weave sweaters and ponchos - Sheep wool - Dyes from herbs Make jewelry and pots
Have a difficult time keeping their traditions and beliefs alive Workers rights (for the people who moved into town)
Araucanians. Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Ed. Timothy L. Gall and Susan Bevan Gall. Vol. 2. Detroit: UXL, 1999. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 14 Sep. 2011. Araucanians. Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. Ed. Timothy L. Gall. 1 st ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. Student Resource Center- Junior. Web. 24 Sep. 2011
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