Arachanes (sing. Arachán) were a group of

Indigenous peoples in Uruguay Indigenous peoples in Uruguay or Native Uruguayans, are the peoples who have historically lived in the modern state of Uruguay. Because of genocidal colonial practices, disease and active exclusion, only a very small share of the population is a ...

of dubious existence (known through only one document). Their origin is not very well-known, but some scholars consider them (if they existed) to be different from other local ethnicities. They were said to have come from the

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

Highlands (currently

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

) thousands of years ago. Their name is composed of two elements: "eastern", "oriental" () + " Canna" (), as they used to cultivate Cannaceae as staple food.

Legacy

Nowadays the people of Cerro Largo Department are sometimes known as "arachanes", in memory of this extinct local ethnicity. There is also a small seaside resort in

Rocha Department Rocha () is a Departments of Uruguay, department in the east of Uruguay. Its capital is the city of Rocha, Uruguay, Rocha. It borders Maldonado Department to its west, Lavalleja Department to its northwest, Treinta y Tres Department to its north, ...

known as Arachania. The rivuline ''

Austrolebias arachan ''Austrolebias arachan'' is a species of killifish from the family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It ...

'' was named after them as well.

References

External links

* Indigenous peoples in Uruguay History of Uruguay Indigenous peoples of the Southern Cone {{Uruguay-hist-stub