Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
served to exacerbate existing political and economic problems every bit
as much as they ignored social inequalities.
Araucanization of the Pampas
Although they had not yet been “conquered” by European settlers,
the autonomous Indian groups that inhabited the prairies and hills of
the southern Pampas and Patagonia nonetheless underwent momen-
tous changes, transforming their lifestyles so as to resist the pressures
of the expanding European population. The indigenous peoples
adopted some of the settlers' ways; for example, by the beginning
of the 18th century, the Indians already had developed a brisk trade
among themselves in European cattle and horses. They also began to
congregate in larger and more complex groups, dividing themselves
among wealthy chieftains and poor followers. Male hunter-warriors
gained higher status, while women and older people correspondingly
lost status.
Spaniards and gauchos alike had noticed the political and social
changes occurring among the Pampas Indian groups, a process they
called “the Araucanization of the Pampas.” The Araucanians in this case
were the Mapuche peoples of southern Chile, whose resistance continued
to prevent the Spanish population there from spreading southward. The
indigenous groups in Chile and the Patagonia had by the 18th century
been trading with one another across the southern Andean passes for at
least a century. Then the Mapuche began to mingle and intermarry with
indigenous groups of the Patagonia and the Andean foothills. Araucanian
social practices and rituals were adopted by native Argentines, as were
the warrior societies and tighter political alliances.
Upon arriving in Argentina, the Chilean Mapuche gave up their
horticulture completely and became herders of livestock, horses, and
cattle. They even adopted the cultural practices of their Argentine
hosts. They wore boots made from horsehide, roasted meat by placing
hot stones on the inside of the carcass, preferred
chicha
made from the
algarroba
bean, lived in the conical hide-covered tent called the
toldo,
and used horse blood as a cleanser for the face and hair. They even
took up smoking tobacco and inhaling the smoke to induce a kind of
intoxication, and developed a taste for horseflesh. Still, these peoples
moved in small groups, their camps typically numbering 10 large
toldos
and holding up to 30 warriors.
The original Argentine natives greatly admired Araucanian skills at
war. From early on, the Chileans had adopted European tactics and
