The Moluche ("people from where the sun sets" or "people from the west") or Nguluche are an
indigenous people of
Chile. Their language was a dialect of
Mapudungun
Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...
, a
Mapuche language. At the beginning of the
Conquest of Chile by the
Spanish Empire the Moluche lived in what came to be known as
Araucanía. The Moluche were called ''Araucanos'' ("Araucanians") by the Spanish.
Descendants of the Moluche and the
Pehuenche and
Huilliche later migrated into
Argentina in later centuries mixing with the local tribes. This
Araucanization made their language the common spoken language in the region.
Willem F. H. Adelaar, Pieter Muysken, The Languages of the Andes, Published by Cambridge University Press, 2004
, 9780521362757, Pg. 508-510
See also
* Picunche
References
Mapuche groups
History of Chile
Indigenous peoples in Chile
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