Araucanians

“ The rising being quite unsuspected, the natives approached the fort easily; but when the Spaniards saw the horde approaching, they quickly raised the cry to arms, and sallied out to meet them with supercilious impetuosity. They soon found, however, they had no mean foes to deal with; though weary and footsore with their hasty march, the Araucanians no sooner came in presence of the foe, than they fought with all the pride and confidence of assured victory. ”

“ The semi-independent Araucanians, whose territory is slowly being occupied by the whites, are concentrated in the eastern forests of Bio-Bio, Malleco and Cautin, all that remains to them of the Araucania which they so bravely and successfully defended for more than three centuries. ”

“ The civilization of the Araucanians, both past and present, is among the most interesting of the social developments of American origin, and is, perhaps, the one which has survived in truest individuality. Little record is found of individuals; but two historical facts may be cited concerning the women of the great Indian race of the south facts illustrative of the spirit which was inculcated into females as well as males and born of the indomitable love of liberty which was the fundamental characteristic of the Araucanians. ”

“ The Araucanians having resolved to send succours to the inhabitants of Panco, gave orders to their Toqui to set out forthwith to their assistance with four thousand men. In the year 1550 their general passed the Bio-bio, which river separates the Araucanian territory from that of the Pancones, and offered battle to the invaders. After the first discharge of musketry the Araucanians fell on the front and flanks of the Spaniards, who, forming themselves into a square, received their furious attacks with their accustomed valour, many falling on either side. ”

“ The Araucanians cultivate successfully rhetoric, poetry, and medicine. They are polygamists, celibacy being considered as ignominious. Their principal food consists of grain and pulse. Indian corn and potatoes are much esteemed by them. ”

“ Instead of being easily conquered by the handful of Spanish adventurers as were the Incas and Quichuas, the Araucanians kept the Spaniards at bay for centuries, and were in fact never subdued.
The Araucanians and the Quichuas had as different racial characteristics as can be imagined. Although the Araucanians did not constitute a nation in the proper sense of the word but were divided into a large number of clans, each independent and recognizing no master, they never allowed any outside people to interfere with their national life. They were intensely independent. ”

“ But such was not the case with the valiant Araucanians. From the period of Almagro, the companion of Pizarro and the first invader of Chili, down to our own days these bold Americans fought for and retained their independence, holding the Biobio as their national frontier, and driving army after army from their soil. Not until 1882 did they consent to become citizens of Chili, and then of their own free will, and they still retain their native habits and their pride in their pure blood. ”

“ The Araucanians are of an ordinary stature, in complexion copper-coloured, with small, black, vivacious eyes, a rather flat nose, and thick lips; the result of which is an expression of brutal ferocity. Divided into tribes, each one jealous of another, all animated by an unbridled lust of plunder, and ever on the move, their lives are spent in perpetual warfare. The mounted Araucanian is armed with a long lance, a long cutlass, sabre-shaped, called a "Machete,"5 and the lasso, in the use of which they are extremely expert, while the horse he rides is usually swift. ”

“ They are owners of their land and have cattle in abundance, pay no taxes, and even their labor in the construction of highways is only light. They are warlike, brave, and still enjoy some of the blessings of the Inca civilization; only the real, western Araucanians in Chili have attained to a sedentary life. Long before the arrival of the Spaniards the government of the Araucanians offered a striking resemblance to the military aristocracy of the old world. All the rest that has been written of their high stage of culture has proved to be an empty picture of fancy. ”

“ It is only by the introduction of true Christianity, that any permanent improvement in the character of these Indians can be hoped; and the Araucanians are the nation which, if rightly instructed in the truths of the Bible, seem most likely to become the missionaries and teachers of the red race.
The Abipones, [6] resident in Paraguay, are also a nation of horsemen, but in many habits, are more like the Araucanians than the Pampas Indians. They wear clothing, and are very industrious in manufacturing cloth, and utensils of various kinds.
They are a very healthy race, and long-lived. ”

“ In the various treaties which were engineered from time to time between the Spaniards and the Araucanians, one of the most important clauses which the Spaniards invariably endeavoured to insert was to the effect that the Indians were to oppose to the utmost of their power by force of arms the founding of any foreign colony in the territories occupied by them. Thus the attitude of the Araucanians towards foreigners was apt to depend to some extent on whether they happened to be at peace or at war with their Spanish neighbours. ”

“ Among the tribes of North America their nearest peers would probably be found among the Navajos; but the Araucanians were in many respects far superior to their brothers of the northern plains. They were, above all, warriors, and for long they successfully resisted the Spanish invasion. They were a free, restless, brave, and highly independent people, and far better fitted for survival than their more highly cultured neighbors, and this they have proved by resistance to the ill effects of eastern civilization and a persistence unto this day. ”

“ The fourth South American race may be considered as a more southernly expansion of the preceding. Ethnologists designate it the Araucanian. The region which it occupies stretches from the 30th parallel of south latitude to the vicinity of Tierra del Fuego. The Araucanians properly so called form three tribes—that of the Ranquels, the Huilliches, and the Aucas. They are warriors and nomades. ”

“ The Araucanians, the most powerful, brave, and warlike tribe of South American Indians, formerly occupied all the territory now constituting the northern half of Chile. In the Araucanians the Spaniards met a strong resistance to their invasion of the territory. The tribe then numbered one million, and for three hundred and fifty years they maintained a warfare against the occupation of their country by white men. The Spaniards were unable to subdue them, and even after the war of independence and the establishment of the Republic, they maintained a hostile attitude. ”

“ The Araucanians are admirable riders, though their seat would not please an European riding master. They depend entirely on balance for retaining their seat, and seem rather to hang on the horse’s back than to hold by any grip of the knee. Indeed, a stranger to the country always thinks that an Araucanian rider is on the point of being thrown, so loose is his seat, whereas the very idea that he can by any possibility be thrown never enters his mind. ”

“ The Araucanians have no places of worship, no idols, no religious rites. They believe that as their God and his genii need not the worship of men, they do not require it; that they are not desirous of imposing a tribute or exacting a service, except for the good or interest of their servants; and that they thus resemble the Toquis and Ulmenes, who can call upon them to fight for their country and their liberties, but for no personal offices. They, nevertheless, invoke the aid of the good Meulen, and attribute all their evils to the influence of the wicked Wencuba. ”

“ His Fraudulent Highness made war against the Chilean government, was captured and deported to his native country, where after several uneventful years, he died in an asylum in Bordeaux.
The Araucanians are a sturdy race, with fine physiques. They are tall, muscular, agile and possess wonderful power of endurance. They are brave to foolhardiness, but lack intelligence, ambition and creative genius. Their stupidity combined with their passions, cruel natures and natural characteristics have prevented them from rising little above the low level of animals in their domestic life. ”

“ Yet, in spite of every effort of force and skill, the Araucanians have valiantly defended their country, evincing that a free people, however inconsiderable in point of numbers, can perform wonders.
Since losing their possessions in Arancania, the Spaniards have prudently confined their views to the preservation and improvement of that part of Chili which lies between the southern confines of Peru and the river Biobio, extending between the latitudes of 24° and 36° 30' S. As formerly mentioned this kingdom is divided into thirteen provinces. ”

“ These Araucanians were, indeed, born fighters. In common with the general run of mankind, it was their lot to be defeated from time to time. Nevertheless, they repaid the defeats frequently with very tragic interest; in any case, subdued by force of arms they certainly never were. Much the same may be said of the Indians of the Argentine and Uruguayan plains. The aggressive tactics here were by no means confined to the Spaniards. ”

“ In consequence of this pacification, all prisoners were released on both sides, and the Spaniards had the satisfaction of receiving, among many others, forty-two of their countrymen who had been in captivity ever since the time of the toqui Paillamachu. Commerce, the inseparable concomitant of a good understanding among neighbouring nations, was established between the Spaniards and Araucanians. ”

“ Many Araucanians may be seen in Temuco, Osorno, Puerto Montt and other southern towns. They come there to trade. Some are on horseback, both men and women riding astride, others come in clumsy ox-carts with their wheat, corn or other produce. The women wear bright-coloured blankets, which are so fastened at the shoulders that the arms are left bare. ”

“ From then on the war continued with varying success, the Spaniards stubbornly persisting in their efforts to conquer their indomitable opponents, the Araucanians always resisting, and, when beaten for a time, retreating to the mountains, only to recruit and return to the contest with renewed vigor, and this even when their enemies had grown so numerous that they could put thousands of their well armed and trained soldiers into the field instead of hundreds. ”

“ After the one last mentioned, the Araucanians, unsubdued in courage, appointed to the chief command a man named Paillamachu, the hereditary toqui of the second district; who, though advanced in years, is said to have been a person of wonderful activity. ”

“ The Araucanians discovered by degrees tactics fitted to reduce the advantages which firearms gave to the Spaniards.235 They obtained horses, and, like the Comanches in Arizona and the Basutos of South Africa, learnt to use them in war. They produced leaders like Lautaro and Caupolican of talents equal to their bravery. When they found themselves unable to stem a Spanish invasion they retired into their woods, and as soon as the enemy had retired, they fell upon the forts and raided across the border. ”

“ This will be more fully dwelt upon, but it is mentioned here in order to show that the Indians are fully aware of the advantages of peace, though they are undoubtedly, the Araucanians especially, jealous of the encroachments of foreigners, and the traditions of their past history have caused them to hold the very name of Spaniard or ‘Cristiano’ in abhorrence. It is also difficult for the superior caciques in all cases to restrain the petty caciquillos from small depredations ”

“ The Araucanians, by the way, notwithstanding a statement to the contrary by Molinos, swathe their children as do most Indian tribes, and they even tie their infants to a bamboo frame so tightly that the little unfortunates have no control over any portion of their bodies save their eyes, and in this state they are hung upon the walls when it is desirable to get them out of the way an occurrence so frequent that the infants pass nearly their whole existence hung upon pegs like unhappy lares. ”

“ A new state of affairs began when the Araucanians, disgusted with the timid policy of their leader, chose a bolder man, named Caupolican, as their toqui, or head chief. A daring and able man, the new toqui soon taught the Spaniards a lesson. [pg 119] He began with an attack on their forts. At one of these, named Arauco, the invaders had eighty Indians employed in bringing them forage for their horses. The wily Caupolican replaced these laborers by eighty of his own warriors, who hid their arms in the bundles of hay they carried. ”

“ Each cacique had his own ranch house, the number of doors indicating the number of his wives, of which some had as many as fifteen. These people were the Araucanians, who proved to be a brave and courageous race. The Spaniards immediately began their usual cruelties and efforts to enslave these people, but succeeded only temporarily. The natives soon rose in rebellion. Three hundred years of warfare decimated their ranks, but did not subdue them, and when the Spanish rule ended these people were as unconquered as when it began. ”