The Mapuche is a group of native indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who share a common social, religious, and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage as Mapudungun speakers. Their homelands once extended from Choapa Valley to the Chiloé Archipelago and later spread eastward to Puelmapu, a land comprising part of the Argentine pampa and Patagonia. Today the collective group makes up over 80% of the indigenous peoples in Chile and about 9% of the total Chilean population. The Mapuche are concentrated in the Araucanía region. Many have migrated from rural areas to the cities of Santiago and Buenos Aires for economic opportunities.
The Araucanía, La Araucanía Region is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions, and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south. Its capital and largest city is Temuco; other important cities include Angol and Villarrica.
The Biobío River is the second largest river in Chile. It originates from Icalma and Galletué lakes in the Andes and flows 380 km to the Gulf of Arauco on the Pacific Ocean.
The Occupation of Araucanía or Pacification of Araucanía (1861–1883) was a series of military campaigns, agreements and penetrations by the Chilean army and settlers into Mapuche territory which led to the incorporation of Araucanía into Chilean national territory. Pacification of Araucanía was the expression used by the Chilean authorities for this process. The conflict was concurrent with Argentine campaigns against the Mapuche (1878–1885) and Chile's wars with Spain (1865–1866) and with Peru and Bolivia (1879–1883).
Indigenous peoples in Chile or Native Chileans form about 13% of the total population of Chile. According to the 2017 census, almost 2,200,000 people declare having indigenous origins. Most Chileans are of partially indigenous descent; however, indigenous identification and its legal ramifications are typically reserved to those who self-identify with and are accepted within one or more indigenous groups.
The Mapuche conflict involves indigenous Mapuche communities, also known as the Araucanians, located in Araucanía and nearby regions of Chile and Argentina. It is often referred to as a conflict between the Mapuche and the Chilean government or state, despite the fact that there have been a variety of other actors participating in the conflict such as the Spanish Empire as well as corporations such as big forestry companies and their contractors. In the past decade of the conflict, Chilean police and some non-indigenous landowners have been confronted by militant Mapuche organizations and local Mapuche communities in the context of the conflict. Some scholars argue the conflict is an indigenous self-determination conflict; others like Francisco Huenchumilla see it as the expression of a wider political conflict that affects all of Chile given the existence of other indigenous groups.
Forestry is one of the main economic sectors of Chile, representing 14% of the value of the country's total exports. This places the forestry sector in Chile as the second largest export sector behind copper mining. From 1970 to 2005 planted forest surface in Chile grew from 300,000 ha to more than 2.07 million ha. In 2019 Chile had slightly more than 2,3 million ha of forest plantations of which 1,3 million ha were Pinus radiata and 0,9 million ha were of Eucalyptus globulus and Eucalyptus nitens. In 2006 70% of Chile's forestry production went to export, and the industry employed more than 150,000 workers. By 2020 people employed in the sector were down to 112,200.
The last major rebellion of the indigenous Mapuches of Araucanía took place in 1881, during the last phase of the Occupation of Araucanía (1861–1883) by the Chilean state. It was planned by Mapuche chiefs in March 1881 to be launched in November the same year. Mapuche support for the uprising was not unanimous: Some Mapuche factions sided with the Chileans and others declared themselves neutral. The organizers of the uprising did however succeed in involving Mapuche factions that had not previously been at war with Chile. With most of the attacks repelled within a matters of days Chile went on the next years to consolidate its conquests.
As an archaeological culture, the Mapuche people of southern Chile and Argentina have a long history which dates back to 600–500 BC. The Mapuche society underwent great transformations after Spanish contact in the mid–16th century. These changes included the adoption of Old World crops and animals and the onset of a rich Spanish–Mapuche trade in La Frontera and Valdivia. Despite these contacts Mapuche were never completely subjugated by the Spanish Empire. Between the 18th and 19th century Mapuche culture and people spread eastwards into the Pampas and the Patagonian plains. This vast new territory allowed Mapuche groups to control a substantial part of the salt and cattle trade in the Southern Cone.
Camilo Marcelo Catrillanca Marín was a Mapuche farmer from Temucuicui in Chile who was shot to death by the Chilean police force under suspicious circumstances. The incident led to protests against police violence, and occurred in the broader context of the ongoing conflict over Mapuche civil rights.
Banditry was a considerable phenomenon in 19th century and early 20th century Central Chile and Araucanía. Many bandits achieved legendary status for their brutality and others for being regarded folk heroes. The bandits usually preyed on haciendas and their inquilinos.
Pedro César Cayuqueo Millaqueo is a Chilean journalist and activist of indigenous Mapuche descent involved in the Mapuche conflict.
Temucuicui or Temocuicui is a locality made up a group of Mapuche communities in the commune of Ercilla, Malleco Province, Araucanía Region, in Chile.
Weichán Auka Mapu (WAM) is a Mapuche armed and revolutionary organization that operates mainly in southern Chile, being a supporter of armed struggle through arson attacks, sabotage actions and clashes with firearms against police officers, in order to achieve full autonomy for the Mapuche people.
Among the indigenous Mapuche people of Chile, there are those that practice traditional polygamy. In modern Chile polygamy has no legal recognition. This puts women whose marriages to their husbands are not legally recognized at a disadvantage in relation to the legal wife who is, in terms of securing inheritance. Polygamy is much less common today in comparison with the time preceding the Occupation of Araucanía (1861–1883), when the traditional Mapuche homeland was brought under control of the Chilean government. It survives as a chiefly rural practice, but has also been reported in the low-income peripheral communities of Santiago. Wives who share the same husband are often relatives, such as sisters, who live in the same community. According to hearsay, polyandry among the Mapuche is reputed to exist at least historically, in which case the husbands may have been brothers, but no documentation exists attesting to this phenomenon. It is also in contradiction to the renewal of the warrior ethos (weichan) promoted by militant Mapuche organizations such as Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco.
Eugenio Sebastián Nain Caniumil was a Chilean policeman and secondary corporal who was shot to death by an unidentified armed group in the Padre Las Casas commune. His death occurred during the social context of the Araucanía Conflict and the Chilean social outburst.
Francisca Linconao Huircapán, also known as Machi Linconao, is a machi and human rights activist in Chile. She became the first Indigenous rights defender in Chile to successfully invoke the 1989 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention when she sued to stop a company from logging a forest adjacent to her community. In 2021, she was elected as a representative of the Mapuche people to the Chilean Constitutional Convention election.
Natividad Llanquileo Pilquimán is a Mapuche lawyer and human rights activist. Llanquileo was noted for her role as a spokesperson during the 2010 Mapuche hunger strike. She was a member of the Constitutional Convention during its existence from 2021 to 2022.
Adolfo Millabur Ñancuil is a Mapuche politician in Chile. Millabur served as Mayor of Tirúa from 1994 to 2011, holding the distinction of being the first Mapuche mayor in Chilean history.
Isabel Selena Godoy Monárdez is a Qulla activist and politician in Chile. A former political prisoner during the Chilean military dictatorship, Godoy was elected in 2021 to represent the Qulla people at the Constitutional Convention.
Resistencia Ancestral Mapuche 
