Araucaria araucana, commonly called the monkey puzzle tree, monkey tail tree, piñonero, pewen or Chilean pine, is an evergreen tree growing to a trunk diameter of 1–1.5 m (3.3–4.9 ft) and a height of 30–40 m (98–131 ft). It is native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina. It is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria. Because of the prevalence of similar species in ancient prehistory, it is sometimes called a living fossil. It is also the national tree of Chile. Its conservation status was changed to Endangered by the IUCN in 2013 due to the dwindling population caused by logging, forest fires, and grazing.
Araucaria is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. There are 20 extant species in New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, eastern Australia, New Guinea, Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
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 Aconcagua 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 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).
Caburgua Lake is located 23 km northeast of the city of Pucón, in the La Araucanía Region of Chile. Huerquehue National Park lies to the east of the lake. Like Villarrica Lake, it is part of Toltén River basin. During summer the outflow river may dry out but due to high levels of underground infiltration the waterfalls Ojos del Caburgua never run dry.
Aluminé Lake is a large and deep lake located in the Andes in the western part of Neuquén Province, Argentina, near the border with Chile. Aluminé Lake is fed by the outflow of Lake Moquehue and is the source of the Aluminé River whose waters ultimately reach the Atlantic Ocean. The tourist town of Villa Pehuenia is on the northern shore of the lake.
Aluminé is a second class municipality and the capital city of Aluminé Department located in the west-central part of the Neuquén Province, Argentina. With an economy based on animal husbandry, forest exploitation and tourism, it serves as a service center for the nearby rural areas.
The Destruction of the Seven Cities is a term used in Chilean historiography to refer to the destruction or abandonment of seven major Spanish outposts in southern Chile around 1600, caused by the Mapuche and Huilliche uprising of 1598. The Destruction of the Seven Cities, in traditional historiography, marks the end of the Conquest period and the beginning of the proper colonial period.
Cuncos, Juncos or Cunches is a poorly known subgroup of Huilliche people native to coastal areas of southern Chile and the nearby inland. Mostly a historic term, Cuncos are chiefly known for their long-running conflict with the Spanish during the colonial era of Chilean history.
Villa Pehuenia is a village and municipality in Neuquén Province in southwestern Argentina. The town is located on the northern shore of Aluminé Lake and its economy is primarily based on tourism. The village is in the Andes and is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the border with Chile via a highway through the Icalma pass. The town is named after the pehuén or monkey puzzle tree, an endangered species found here at the southernmost limit of its range.
Galletué Lake, also spelled as Gualletué Lake, is located in the Andes of the La Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides. Issuing from the lake on its eastern side is one of the two sources of the Biobío River, the other being nearby Icalma Lake. The lake is in the ecoregion of the Valdivian Temperate Rain Forest. The monkey-puzzle tree locally called "pehuen" is the most distinctive of the tree species in the forest.
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.
Agriculture in Chile has a long history dating back to the Pre-Hispanic period. Indigenous peoples practised varying types of agriculture, from the oases of the Atacama Desert to as far south as the Guaitecas Archipelago. Potato was the staple food in the populous Mapuche lands. Llama and chilihueque herding was practised by various indigenous groups.
[Chile] is rich in pastures and cultivated fields, in which all kind of animals and plants can be breed or grown, there is plenty of very beautiful wood for making houses, and plenty of firewood, and rich gold mines, and all land is full of them...
The battle of Río Bueno was fought in 1654 between the Spanish Army of Arauco and indigenous Cuncos and Huilliches of Fütawillimapu in southern Chile. The battle took place against a background of a long-running enmity between the Cuncos and Spanish, dating back to the destruction of Osorno in 1603. More immediate causes were the killing of Spanish shipwreck survivors and looting of the cargo by Cuncos, which led to Spanish desires for a punishment, combined with the prospects of lucrative slave raiding.
The Mapuche uprising of 1655 was a series of coordinated Mapuche attacks against Spanish settlements and forts in colonial Chile. It was the worst military crisis in Chile in decades, and contemporaries even considered the possibility of a civil war among the Spanish. The uprising marks the beginning of a ten-year period of warfare between the Spanish and the Mapuche.
The Salazar brothers were Spanish criollos who played important roles in mid-17th century affairs in the Captaincy General of Chile. They became infamous for their slave hunting expeditions, corruption and role in unleashing the Mapuche uprising of 1655.
The Mapuche uprising of 1723 was a rebellion of the Mapuche against the Spanish Empire and its colonial administration in present-day Chile. It began with the killing of Pascual Delgado by Mapuches and continued until Mapuche factions begun to sue for peace in 1725. The Spanish reinforced the fort of Purén, and most of the Spanish managed to find refuge in the various forts without being intercepted or harassed by Mapuches. On August Mapuche toki Vilumilla pushed north occupying Isla del Laja, that is the lands between Bío Bío and Laja rivers. The Spanish led by Manuel de Salamanca attacked a Mapuche encampment of warriors August 24, a day of heavy rain. The Mapuche initially fought with tenacity but came to believe they were being surrounded so they fled the scene.
Mapuche slavery was commonplace in 17th-century Chile and a direct consequence of the Arauco War. When Spanish conquistadors initially subdued the indigenous inhabitants of Chile, there was no slavery but a form of involuntary servitude called encomienda. However, this form of forced labour was harsh and many Mapuche would end up dying in the Spanish gold mines during the 16th century.
The Mapuche uprising of 1766 was the last major Spanish–Mapuche conflict in Araucanía.
