Diana, HongJoo, and Brianna

En el pasado
En el tiempo de la colonia, fue en Patagonia, y
Santa Cruz, desde 250 anos.
Before the Spanish came to this region around
1540, the Mapuche were a prosperous people
living from hunting, fishing and farming. The
regions where they lived were fertile; it was
covered with forests, and rich with precious
metals and minerals.
immigration gave way to an adaptation and
merger process with the peoples who had settled
down in this area before their arrival. This
happened without any violence or displacement.
Donde viven?
En Chile hay personas en La
Araucana, Bo Bo, Los
Lagos, Los Ros and
Valparaso, y en las
ciudades, tambien.
En 2012, 37.4% of the
Chilean Mapuche
population live in Santiago;
in Argentina, the Mapuche
live mainly in the provinces
of Neuqun, Ro Negro,
Buenos Aires and Santa
Cruz.






Las personas
Ahora, hay 1.5 million in Chile,
and 200,000 in Argentina.
The Mapuche nation is the
most numerous of the
indigenous people in Chile and
constitutes one of the largest
indigenous societies in South
America.

Como comunican?
La Lengua: Mapudungn y espanol
The name Mapuche is composed of two parts: Mapu, which means land; and
che, which means people. The Mapuche call their language Mapudungun.
Mapuches language is also called Araucano, a name given by the Spanish
colonialists.
The Mapuche people also speak Spanish.
Nowadays Araucanian speakers have almost disappeared from Argentina, while in
Chile, the Mapuchewho used to speak only Mapudungunare now mostly
bilingual.
Mapadungun lacks substantive protection or promotion, despite the Chilean
government's commitment to improve the situation and provide full access to
education in Mapuche areas in southern Chile.
Only 20,000 people still regularly speak the language. There are several
Mapundungu influences in Chilean Spanish and several cities and other locations
have Mapuche names.
There are two main dialects of Mapuche spoken today.
Como viven?
A typical Mapuche dwelling had a roof hut, often with a
little side building that served as a kitchen.
worked on the land. Mapuche men were very distinguished
craftsmen, making musical instruments, wooden tools,
household utensils, and jewellery.
Women were skilful weavers and dyers of wool, they were
taught this craft by their mothers from a very early age.
Other important cultural expressions were dancing and
singing.
Good dancers and singers were highly respected by the
Mapuche people.
They were polygamous. The number of wives varied
according to how rich they were.

Religion
shaped and complemented by their spirituality, their religious beliefs and the
strong relationship between man, land and nature. They have a deeply religious
society. The Mapuche of today have managed to establish a new dimension of
what is religious in a syncretism that includes the catholic religion as well as
protestant evangelic movements.
The Machi (shaman) is fundamental in the configuration of the Mapuche's myths
and rites. He is the mediator between the natural and supernatural world and
usually has a great knowledge of traditional medicine. Mapuche perform ritual
ceremonies, such as: the nguillatun, a ceremony of prayer; the machitun, healing
ritual; the wentripantu or celebration of the New Year; day of the winter solstice;
funeral and initiation rites
The spiritual world is called Wenumapu, and it is an organized and balanced region
located between the clouds and the cosmos. Here the gods, spirits and ancestors
live. Next to the Wenumapu is its opposite, the Anka-wenu, a disorganized and
chaotic space next to the clouds where evil spirits called Wekufes live.
The Nguillatn, a religious festival, most fully expresses the heart of Mapuche
religion. It is celebrated at different times of the year to re-establish the balance in
the lives of the Mapuche. This can be in response to natural disasters or social
disorder. However, it can also be a ritual to give thanks for a harvest or other good
things. The Nguillatn ritual brings the entire Mapuche community together, the
living as well as the dead, and is directed principally to the God of the sky, their
creator: Chau (also known as Nguenechen).
La Ropa
They dressed chiripa, poncho and leather boots.
The women wore their hair in two long plaits and
covered themselves with blankets which they tied
to their waists with colorful sashes.
Weaving symbols into Mapuche Clothing

Among one of the most beautiful customs that
lives on in Chilean culture is Mapuche weaving. It
goes back to colonial times when women would
weave symbols into clothing used a large upright
loom. Theyd incorporate these woven symbols
into hand-woven blankets, woven ponchos, and
woven bags. Weaving is to date, an exclusively
feminine task done by expert female weavers.
Before Spanish settlers invaded their lands,
Mapuches would use llama wool or guanaco wool
to weave ponchos for the men and create other
woven clothing for themselves, but once
Spaniards introduced the sheep into Chilean
landscape, its wool became the more widely
used.
The patterns that are woven into Mapuche
clothing were made by dyeing the yarn indigo
before weaving. Wherever white was desired,
yarns were tightly covered to resist the dye. This
way the piece of clothing that they were weaving
would have the colors they expected. Mapuche
women would use vegetables and minerals to dye
wool and were even known to have used
fermented urine to fix colors.
The Mapuche people have lost control of their territory to Argentina and Chile.
Their way of life has been eroded by governmental politics and development
projects. In spite of the democratisation process in Chile, human rights violations
against the Mapuche continue, as was the case during past administrations. They
daily suffer racism, repression and social exclusion, but they keep their struggle
alive.
Problemas economicos

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS Their main source of income derives
from agriculture, predominantly farming grain and raising
cattle. However, many Mapuche have relocated to urban
centres. This migration, coupled with a lack of education
(less than 3% of Mapuche receive any education beyond
high school) means that many Mapuche are forced into
labour commonly disdained by the dominant society
(housekeeping, construction, hospitality assistance, etc).
The living standard of the Mapuche is generally low
approximately one-third of all Mapuche live below the
poverty line (less than US $100 per capita). The Mapuche
suffer from poor housing, malnutrition, illiteracy,
alcoholism, tuberculosis and a high rate of infant mortality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfbbjkc9Axw

Referencias
"Los Mapuche-A Native Culture Struggling for Survival in Chile." Los Mapuche-A Native Culture Struggling for
Survival in Chile. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. <http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/letters/los-mapuche-a-
native-culture-struggling-for-survival-in-chile>.

"Mapuche." Culture, Legends, Music, Art, Language, History, Tourism, Mapundungu, Machi, Chile. N.p., n.d. Web.
18 Mar. 2014. <http://www.southamerica.cl/Chile/Mapuche.htm>.

"Mapuche." The Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.bigmyth.com/fullversion/password033/download/MAPUCHE_CULTURE.pdf>.

"Mapuche." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapuche>.

"Mapuche Araucano Culture." Mapuche Araucano Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.interpatagonia.com/mapuche/index_i.html>.

"Mapuche clothing." Land of winds. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
<http://landofwinds.blogspot.com/2011/10/mapuche-clothing.html>.

"The people and the land." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 7 Nov. 2009. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.economist.com/node/14816728>.

"Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization." UNPO: Mapuche. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
<http://unpo.org/article/7895>.

"Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization." UNPO: Mapuche. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
<http://unpo.org/article/7895#sthash.Sm9KG0Ux.dpuf>.