Araucanization
As Araucanization of Patagonia (span. Araucanización ) refers to the advance of the culture of the Mapuche or Mapuche , a South American indigenous people of Chile - as well as their language, Mapudungun - on the territory of present-day Argentina . This peoples movement began at the beginning of the 17th century. After the Spaniards recognized the Mapuche territory in 1641 after more than a hundred years of struggle, more and more Araucanian horse troops moved across the Andes into the eastern lowlands of Patagonia to hunt feral cattle and horses. The ethnic groups living there were araucanized by taking over the horse and developing a similar indigenous equestrian culture . The previously non-dominant structures of the lowland Indians with small local groups of less than 100 people changed to cacik rule with groups of up to 1,000 members. Due to linguistic knowledge, however, it is controversial whether the Araucanization began after 1600 or whether it began much earlier. In addition, one should not imagine this process to be exclusively one-sided, because the cultures of the Pampas Indians also influenced the Mapuche, albeit to a much lesser extent.
Between the 17th and 19th centuries, Araucanization spread to almost the entire south of South America (roughly south of a line between Buenos Aires and Mendoza and south of the Río Bío-Bío ) until the Mapuche by the armed forces of Argentina at the end of the 19th century and Chile were defeated, subjugated, and in some cases systematically exterminated.
development
The Mapuche probably belong to the Andean peoples - even if this is doubted by some historians . Their first demonstrable settlement area was central Chile, a little south of the region of today's Concepción . In the 16th century, the culture began to spread to the south, where the Yámana ethnic group was located. By the beginning of the 18th century, the Mapuche had spread to the heights of the island of Chiloé , including the mountainous regions that are now part of Argentina.
From the beginning of the 18th century, the Mapuche language, the Mapudungun, began to spread to the east. This marked the beginning of the actual era of Araucanization. Historians justify this with the fact that this language is very detailed and expressive and therefore enjoyed great prestige among the ethnic groups of Patagonia, who then gradually adopted this language themselves. The phenomenon intensified at the end of the 18th century when numerous diseases broke out among many of the hunter-gatherer groups in Patagonia, which broke the resistance to araucanization.
The Araucanized ethnic groups mainly include the Tehuelche , who at that time inhabited what is now the Argentine part of Patagonia in several peoples (northern, middle and southern Tehuelche). The northern Tehuelche groups araucanized almost completely; a part also mixed with Mapuche and formed the people of the Pehuenche (which translated means "Araukans"). Only in the south of their settlement area (today's Santa Cruz Province ) did the Tehuelche retain their original language until they were subjugated by the Argentine armed forces. The Ranqueles ( La Pampa , San Luis ) should also be mentioned, which were also almost completely araucanized. In the case of the Het or Querandíes, the nomadic pampa peoples, the case is even more complex: They first adopted the language and culture of the Tehuelche, and only after the Araucanization of this people did the Mapudungun and the Araucanian culture.
Negative criticism of the concept
Even if the adoption of numerous cultural elements of the Mapuche by the Pampa peoples is historically certain, some authors see the concept of araucanization as a catchphrase simplification. According to Diana Lenton and Axel Lazzari (1998), the concept achieved great political importance in Argentina in the 19th century, as it enabled the indigenous peoples of the pampas to be characterized as "foreigners" coming from Chile instead of integrating them into the Argentine nation. This discourse was used as a justification for the wars of annihilation against them. Furthermore, not only did the Pampa peoples adopt Araucanian cultural elements, but the Mapuche, conversely, also adopted elements of the pampa peoples.
literature
- Michael Riekenberg : The Araucanization of the Pampas . In: Little History of Argentina , CH Beck, Munich 2009, pp. 13–15
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Lindig et al. Mark Münzel: The Indians. Cultures and history of the Indians of North, Central and South America. dtv, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-423-04317-X p. 127.
- ↑ Michael Riekenberg : Small history of Argentina. CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-58516-6 . Pp. 13-14.
- ↑ Diana Isabel Lenton: Los araucanos en la Argentina: un caso de interdiscursividad nacionalista , III Congreso Chileno de Antropología, Temuco 1998. PDF download: Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link became automatic used and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
