Pehuenche (or ''Pewenche'', people of the "pehuen" or "pewen" in

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 ...

) are an indigenous people of South America. They live in the Andes, primarily in present-day south central Chile and adjacent Argentina. Their name derives from their dependence for food on the seeds of the pehuen or monkey-puzzle tree ('' Araucaria araucana)''. In the 16th century, the Pehuenche lived in the mountainous territory from approximately 34 degrees to 40 degrees south. Later they became Araucanized and partially merged with the Mapuche peoples. In the 21st century, they still retain some of their ancestral lands. Pehuenche groups participated in various armed conflicts in the 17th and 18th centuries, usually by "descending" from the mountains to the western lowlands of Chile. As such they attacked the Spanish around

Maule River The Maule river or Río Maule ( Mapudungun: ''rainy'') is one of the most important rivers of Chile. It is inextricably linked to the country's pre-Hispanic (Inca) times, the country's conquest, colonial period, wars of Independence, modern hist ...

in 1657,Pinochet ''et al''. 1997, p. 82. the Mapuche in January 1767,Barros Arana, 1886, p. 236. and the Spanish of

Isla del Laja 250px, The lands of Isla del Laja roughly corresponds to where its written Los Ángeles. Isla del Laja (lit. Island of the Laja) is an old name for a strip of land between two rivers in Central Chile. Isla del Laja is the land between the banks of ...

on late 1769.Barros Arana, 1886, p. 312. In the 1860s amidst the Chilean invasion of Araucanía the Pehuenche declared themselves neutral.Bengoa 2000, pp. 189-192. The Pehuenche chief Pichiñán is reported to have spoken against the Moluches, who wanted war, claiming that they engaged in robbery and received for that just punishments by Chileans. Historian José Bengoa claims Pehuenche neutrality was indebted to the fact that their lands in the Andes were not subject to colonization. However the encroaching Argentine and Chilean advances was such that in March 1881 Pehuenches assaulted the Argentine outpost of

Chos Malal Chos Malal is the capital city of the Chos Malal Department in Neuquén Province, Argentina. History Chos Malal was founded on 4 August 1887 by Colonel José Olascoaga. It developed as a control point for policing the movement of cattle with ...

killing the whole garrison of 25–30 soldiers.Bengoa 2000, p. 293.

Culture

A Spanish writer first described the Pehuenche in 1558: That writer did not mention the primary food source of the Pehuenche: the harvest of the seeds of the monkey-puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), locally called Pehuen. The Pehuenche adopted horse meat into their diet after feral horses of Spanish origin reached the eastern foothills of the Andes. These herds had developed in the

humid pampa The Humid Pampas ( es, Pampa Húmeda) is an extensive ecoregion of flat, fertile grassland of loessic origin in Argentina. It has a precipitation average of 900 mm per year, in contrast with the Dry Pampas to the west, which average less tha ...

, after the Spanish abandoned Buenos Aires the second time in 1541. At first, the Pehuenche hunted horses as any other game, but later they began to raise horses for meat and transport. To preserve horse meat, they sun-dried it to make ''

charqui Jerky is lean trimmed meat cut into strips and dried (dehydrated) to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt to prevent bacteria growth before the meat has finished the dehydrating process. The word "jerky" derive ...

'' ("jerky"). Juan Ignacio Molina wrote in his ''Civic History of the Kingdom of Chile'' (1787) that the language and religion of the Pehuenche were similar to those of other Mapuche, but he described their dress as distinct. The men wore skirts rather than trousers, as well as

earring An earring is a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings, which clip onto the lobe). Earrings have been worn by people in different civilizations an ...

s and

mantilla A mantilla is a traditional Spanish and Latin American liturgical lace or silk veil or shawl worn over the head and shoulders, often over a high comb called a '' peineta'', popular with women in Spain, as well as in Latin America. It is also wor ...

s. Molina described them as nomadic ("vagabond" in his words) and the most industrious and laborious among "all the savages". Juan Ignacio Molina (1787). ''Civic History of the Kingdom of Chile'', pp. 222-226

References

;Bibliography * * * {{Authority control Mapuche groups History of Chile Indigenous peoples in Argentina Indigenous peoples in Chile Pre-Columbian cultures

Culture

See also

References