…Mapuche art can be described as a synthesis of two major traditions—pre-Hispanic and Hispanic-European. It is an expression of the people’s ideology and cosmology and has been passed down…
The Fox and the Rabbit
…They say that Rabbit always used to go to eat in a vegetable patch, but he ate so much that the woman who owned the patch became very angry…
Economy
…The Mapuche economy has changed significantly over time. In the 16th century, the people had a hunting–gathering mode of subsistence, complemented by the quasi-domestication of camelid herds and non-intensive…
The story of the wild goose couple
…who had a young son. Her husband had gone out to hunt, as he often did, and expected to be away for several days. The woman went about her daily…
Location and Environment
…The Quechua are an indigenous people whose name refers to the language they speak— Quechua. The first Quechua communities to emerge were located in what is now Antofagasta Region…
History
…Tehuelche was the name given by the Mapuche to the people inhabiting the Pampa on the northern coast of the Strait of Magellan. European sailors called them “Patagones” (“bigfoot”),…
Atacameño
…Escuchar Alabado Día de Todos Santos, Ayquina, noviembre 1993. Grabación: Claudio Mercado. Archivo MCHAP. Escuchar Banda de bronces Fiesta de La Candelaria, Caspana. Febrero 1997. Grabación: Claudio Mercado. Archivo…
The son of the animals
…The Mapuche people tell the story of a woman who was raped before her husband had returned home from war and who escaped into the forest to give birth…
Tiwanaku in the north of Chile
(500 -1000…
Pre-hispanic music of Chile
…the south of Chile, as the wood and leather they were made of deteriorated in the wet climate. However, by examining traditions that live on today we can find out…
History
…The term Diaguita may have come from Quechua or Aymara, as the term exists in both languages, and means hill or mountain. It could also have been created locally,…
Beliefs and funeral rites
…Current Mapuche religious practices are imbued with syncretism—an attempt to reconcile opposing concepts, in this case those introduced by Christian evangelists and those of traditional Mapuche cosmology. This process…
Atacameña
…only at specific times of the year and must not be played at other times. For example, in the localities of Ayquina and Toconce during the wet season (January to…
History
…The history of the indigenous population of Ollagüe and San Pedro Estación is linked to that of the neighboring Uyuni Salt Flat in Southwest Bolivia. Archeology in the region…
Economy
…The Changos were specialized fishermen and sea hunters who sailed extensively in sea lion skin rafts, agile vessels that could withstand fishing trips on the open ocean. The rafts…
Environment and Location
…The earliest investigators recognized the Picunche, who lived between the Maule River and the Itata and Bío Bío rivers, the Araucanos, who inhabited the region between the Bío Bío and…
The petroglyphs of Kalina
…Eight kilometers south of Alero de Taira is the archeological site of Calina Oeste, an open-air campcontaining the remains of several circular stone-walled dwellings. The camp’s former occupants…
The picture-engravings of Taira
…the Atacama salt flat. Most of these sites are located near freshwater springs. The Taira figures were painted or engraved onto the rock, or applied using a combination of both…
Mapuche Ülkantun – La música
…Genaro Antilao, Orquesta de Niños Mapuche Tirua Grabado en la zona Lafkenche de Arauco y Concepción – Chile. Hablado en la variante del idioma chedungun Lafkenche de Tirúa –…
The pictographs of Cueva Blanca
…Around 400 B.C., in the Upper Salado River basin, a style of rock painting emerged that had never been seen before in the region. This style was radically…
Chile, 15,000 Years Temporal Exhibition
…Chile, 15,000 years Chile, 15,000 Years is a wide-ranging museum exhibition that includes more than 670 pieces from the collections of the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. At…
Art
…from distant cultures, adapting them to their particular needs; examples of this include pottery, metallurgy and textile making techniques. Archaeological studies of Chango cemeteries and dwelling places dating from the…
Art
…some becoming treasured family heirlooms. Music and dance are also highly important in the Aymara culture. More than just a form of entertainment, these activities play a central role in…