Mapuche, << mah POO chay, >> are one of the largest groups of native peoples in South America. About 1,500,000 Mapuche live in Chile, and about 200,000 live in Argentina. The name Mapuche means people of the land in their native language, called Mapuzugun. Mapuche territory is divided into several regions. Each region is inhabited by a different subgroup of Mapuche. Subgroups include the Lafkenche, who live along the coast of Chile; the Wenteche and Nagche of Chile’s central valley; the Pewenche, who live in the Andes region; and the Puelche, who inhabit the Argentine plains known as the Pampas.
The Mapuche are famous for their long resistance to the Spaniards, who called them Araucanians. They were eventually defeated by the armies of Chile and Argentina in the late 1800’s. They were then settled onto reducciones, a type of reservation, where they mainly lived as farmers. Today, increasing development in rural areas of Chile and Argentina has forced most Mapuche to move to cities.
