HUMAN GEOGRAPHY  |  NATIVES  |  THE HUINCAS (WHITE PEOPLE)

Pinturas rupestres en Villa Traful

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

It is believed that the first human beings that arrived in the continent were nomad hunters from the north east of Asia, taking advantage of an ice bridge which joined America to Alaska - they began to move to the south. Another theory suggests that other groups may have arrived sailing across the Pacific Ocean.
North Patagonia had groups from the north as well as from the south. The Andean range is quite low at this latitude so it worked as a corridor for human and goods circulation. Archaeological sites reveal human presence for more than 10.000 years. The region, with its diverse geomorphology, extends from the Andean woods, suitable for hunting and picking araucaria's fruits, to the large valleys, where they were able to hunt and fish.

NATIVES

Some authors suggest the presence of the mapuche people in the south of Chile as from the XI century.
There were frequent movements of hunters or dealers. Between XVI y XIX centuries, they gradually began to occupy Patagonia and la Pampa as a consequence of the influence of the Spanish conquest, and the Chilean army later on. When Chile and Argentina became independent countries, the mapuche people were divided.
The biggest mapuche community, with their own habits and language, live in the Araucania region, on the Chilean side. In our country the "mapudungun" language remains only in isolated areas of Chubut, Neuquén and Rio Negro.
The last ethnias living in the north Patagonian territory where the puelches and pehuenches.

Puelches:

Their name means "people from the east". They were probably southern tehuelches or "guenaken". With a high stature and an extended head, they used to deform it in babies. They were nomads and their main food was obtained from guanaco and ñandú, hunted with arrows and "boleadoras" (bundled balls).
They lived under fur tents and wore the "quillango", a blanket made of guanaco's skin, with geometric paintings. They were buried wrapped in leather and their belongings were destroyed.

Pehuenches:

They lived in the araucaria (pehuen) region. According to Spanish chronicles, they were tall and thin; their skin was dark and had curly hair. They were guanaco hunters and collected seeds and wild fruits. They specially collected the "piñon" (seed of the araucaria). They made a kind of bread and alcoholic drink with them. In the XVII century, when the mapuche people started coming to this area from the present Chile, they began to lose almost all of their habits, the language and even their physical characteristics.

Danza ceremonial mapuche: choique purrun. Photo: F. Hermosilla

Mapuches:

Called "araucanos" by the Spanish people in Chile. They were the last natives that settled in our land 200 years ago. They reached the "pampas". They were short with small heads. In Chile they were farmers. They lived in villages in wooden houses (rucas). They worked on metals, with which they made their typical chest shields and silver earrings. They also made pottery, baskets and were very well knitters. On this side of the Andean range, they were hunters and collectors, who adapted to the nomad life using the horse, introduced by the Spanish in the XVI century.
Their language, mapudungun, prevailed over the previous languages.
The marriages were exogamous (the partner belonged to another tribe) and families could be polygamist, depending on the man's wealth as the bride was bought.
They adore Nguenechén ("owner of people"), who is offered a ceremony called Nguillatún every year. White people can't take part in this ceremony. They believe in the survival of dead people's soul, who used to be buried with food and drinks.
They played several musical instruments: cultrun (a drum made of leather and wood), pifilca (a kind of flute), trutruca (a wind instrument similar to a horn) and quinquer-cahué or araucanian violin.
The "machi" woman was in charge of healing, with herbs and other procedures.
Since they entered the region, they were distributed in different groups, depending on the area and ethnic characteristics. So there were the pehuenches (in the aracucaria territory), the picunches (people from the north), puelches (people from the east) and huilliches (people from the south), who were also called "apple people" as there were many wild apple trees in their region.

Armas españolas siglos XVI, XVIII, Museo de la Araucanía

THE HUINCAS (WHITE PEOPLE)

The first white people who entered the region came from Chile as from 1550. Many explorers sought the "Cesar's city", hoping to get wealthy.
The Chilean expeditions as well as the Argentinean, left villages which were lately attacked by the natives ("malones"), and the white people organized "malocas", in order to capture natives and keep them as slaves.

Up rising of Araucanía:

In 1599, a huge mapuche uprising, conducted by the chief Pelantaro, destroyed all the towns founded by the Spanish people and obliged them to withdraw to the north of Bio Bio river. The Araucanía - the 9th Chilean region today-, was never recovered and the Chilean republic just did it in the second part of the XIX century.

First missionaries:

Between 1650 and 1954 several expeditions came from Chile with the excuse of making peace with the natives; these were conducted by missionaries who took back some native prisoners, and founded missions by Nahuel Huapi lake, Paimun and Rucachoroi, but they didn't succeed.

Final stage of the conquest:

More than 300 years of resistance to slavery or against leaving their lands ended with the military attempts from both the Argentine and Chilean governments - the political purpose: to supporting their territorial control; the economic objective: obtain land for future settlers.
The first military campaign, commanded by the Argentine government, was in charge of Juan Manuel de Rosas in 1833, in order to put an end to the attacks ("malones") which razed fields and towns in the south of Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Mendoza. Nevertheless, the agreements would not last.
During the second part of the XIX century, the need of wool and cotton increased in international markets, due to the expansion of the industrial loom, and even of livestock, since the refrigerator was invented.
These facts made this desert land more attractive. Until 1870, nomad hunters, the same as sedentary, still had an uncertain freedom. Throughout the next decade, many "sons of the land" would die hopelessly facing weapons like Remington and Krupp cannon. The military campaign called "Desert Conquest", organized and commanded by Gral. Julio A. Roca, was carried out in three stages.
In 1879, the frontier up to Negro and Neuquén rivers was taken. This region (Neuquen - Alto Valle) was called "the Apples country" and by then it was handled by the prestigious chief Valentín Sayhueque. Accepted as an authority by Buenos Aires, he was a friend of Francisco P. Moreno. He lived in Caleufu and the relationship with the government in Buenos Aires was good, as "apple people" were stock-breeders and used to cultivate the land: they did not attack; besides, Sayhueque was regarded as an Argentine. On the other hand, Roca wanted to avoid him to support Namuncurá, son of frightful Calfucurá (and Ceferino's father), who dominated the pampeana region with his attacks.

The exile:

Before the "Nahuel Huapi campaign" -1881-, the "Apples Country" had a population of 30.000 inhabitants. When the unexpected Cnel. Conrado Villegas' attack took place, the chief, who considered himself an allied of the Argentine army and had thought he could not be attacked by it, had to run away to the south with the other chiefs Foyel and Inacayal, leaving land and horses behind.
The groups and remains of the pampeana tribes (in general, the tehuelche turned into araucanian), took refuge in Chile, in the valleys extending from Trapatrapa to Reigolil. Some of them returned at the beginning of the XX century and where placed in the present reserves.
The third stage -1882/1883- was the "Andes campaign", which tried to found forts to control Andean passes and the removal of small groups, such as Ñancucheo's and other survivals from the great tribes which went on fighting in the woods and passes. They were sometimes protected by natives from the Chilean side as well as reduced at the same time by the Chilean army under Gral. Urrutia's command, which called his campaign "Araucanian peace".

Cautivos en La Plata. De izquierda a derecha, mujeres de caciques Inakayal, Foyel y Ariancu. Margarita y Tafá.

Photo: Revista Museo de la Plata.

The genocide:

After several years of resistance along the south of Río Negro and Chubut, Valentín Sayhueque, who had been assigned governor of "the Apples country" by the national government, and his people finally surrendered on 1st January 1885 at Junín de los Andes fort. They were taken to Carmen de Patagones and put on board towards Buenos Aires, where the chiefs were arrested at El Retiro. The young men were sent to serve at the navy schooners or to Tucumán to work on the "zafra". Women and kids separated from their mothers were given to rich families as servants.
Their territories were quickly occupied by new owners. According to Jacinto Oddone, the new laws after the "Desert conquest" disposed of more than 34 million hectares, where 24 people received plots of more than 200.000 ha.

Primo Capraro sentado junto al conductor en Bahía Inalco. Photo: Museo de Villa La Angostura

The pioneers:

Most of the first white settlers came from Chile. They were traders or stock-breeders. Later on, between 1885 and the beginning of the XX century, settlers arrived from Europe, Lebanon and Palestine and afterwards, from different Argentine provinces.
For the past thirty years, the immigration of high education level has come from the cities, with a strong presence of Chilean labor in construction and farm tasks.
Since 2002, there have been new immigrants of diverse profiles who want to "escape" from the violence and lack of life quality in big cities, establishing in the Andean range unaware of the real opportunities and difficulties they would have to face.

Argentina: Norte Neuquino, Caviahue y Copahue, Villa Pehuenia, Aluminé,

Junín de los Andes, San Martín de los Andes, Villa Traful, Villa La Angostura,

Bariloche, El Bolsón, Lago Puelo, El Hoyo, Esquel, Trevelin.

Chile: Pucón, Villarrica, Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt y Puerto Varas.