INDIANS

The indigenous races of Chile consist of the following tribes: Araucanians, Chilotes, Chonos, Onas, Fueginos, Yahgans, Alacalupes and Patagonians.

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. Although being gradually and peacefully subjugated they still maintain a sort of independence, living under a form of government agreeable to their common tribal laws and customs. They are now generally engaged in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture.

The Araucanian government consists of a confederation constituted by the union of three independent tribes, each of which is governed by a hereditary chief, called Toqui, or Cacique. A few years ago the territory was divided into sub-districts, for each of which there is a subordinate chief. The Caciques are elected by their respective tribes. They hold armed diets, like the ancient Poles and Germans. In the formation of laws governing their actions, and determining upon military operations, every member of the confederation has a vote.

In more recent years these erstwhile savages have manifested a friendly disposition towards foreigners, some of whom have been admitted to membership in their tribes. These “white Indians,” who usually possess superior intelligence, education and knowledge of the world, sometimes rise to eminence among the tribes. A French lawyer named De Tonneins, once humbugged the Indians into believing in his alleged magical and spiritual attainments to such an extent that the Araucanian tribes proclaimed him king, which distinction he assumed under the title of King Orelie Antonio I, and reigned for several years. The small court by which he was surrounded paid him great deference. 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. A study of their past history and present conditions has a tendency to disillusionize one who has formed ideas of the Araucanians from descriptions written by historians and tales related by travelers who have never visited the habitations of that peculiar people. In general appearance the Araucanians resemble the other indigenous tribes of North and South America. They are copper colored, have black, straight, coarse hair and deep set, piercing black eyes. There is a trace of foreign blood apparent in many of them, due to their association with the Spaniards who first invaded the country, and shipwrecked sailors, many of whom cast their lots with the Indians, and lived peacefully among them, frequently marrying Indian women.

When America was discovered, the indigenous tribes wore little clothing, but contact with white men has wrought some changes in their customs and habits, and taught them the propriety of wearing at least a semi-civilized garb. The costume of the Araucanian consists of a shirt, a loin cloth, a manta or poncho of dark blue or black fabric, and a scarlet turban, all woven by hand and from natural wool, and colored from dyes extracted from the roots of plants and bark of trees. The women wear long, scarlet petticoats, and over the head a blue manta, which drapes over the body down to and below the waist. Their costumes are also made of hand-woven wool cloth, which is soft and warm, and very durable. A unique feature of the cloth made by the Indians is the variety and peculiarity of colors woven into the fabric. The designs are odd and quaint, and not infrequently weird figures representing animals, serpents and imaginary gods and devils are worked into the patterns. A peculiar feature of the fabric is that the designs are never duplicated, no two pieces of cloth being made of the same pattern. Hence, if one buys an Indian poncho, he has the satisfaction of knowing that no one else will have one like it in design. The mantas worn by the men and women are in plain colors, as a rule, but they are unique garments, the feature of which is a long nap on the outer side of the fabric, which makes it almost impervious to water. These mantas are usually fastened with a huge silver pin, ornamented with a round, flat disk. Both men and women wear silver earrings of huge proportions, very heavy and of varied and odd design. The women wear various other silver ornaments in the form of necklaces, bangles, crosses and pendants. These articles are all made of hammered silver and have an intrinsic as well as a decorative value. The usual aversion of Indians in general to familiarity, or to become communicative, the traditional stolidity of the race, holds good with the Araucanians. They are averse to selling any of their personal apparel or adornments, and all efforts to purchase such articles are resented.

These people, constituting the remnant of a once powerful and proud race, live in miserable huts, the roofs of which provide little protection against rain, and the walls of which are sometimes conspicuous by their absence. In a climate where it rains one half the year, and where the temperature frequently drops to zero, these places of habitation afford little comfort. In these miserable “rucas” live the family, not infrequently consisting of a large number of children, together with donkeys, pigs, dogs and fowls, in sanitary conditions that are shockingly disgusting.

In the Araucanian country, which extends from the River Bio Bio on the north to Valdivia on the south, and from the Cordillera to the sea, some strange sights may be witnessed. Almost the entire country is covered with forests, and there are hundreds of miles of solitude and unbroken wilderness, save the little cultivated patches, where the Indians engage in farming. Their farms and ranchos are usually back from, rather than along the trails where travelers pass. There is little bird or animal life in the forests, and one may ride for days through those solitudes, with little or nothing to attract attention or relieve the oppressive silence and monotony, save the sight of an occasional Indian. The strange, mysterious manner of the Indians only adds to the uncanny aspect of the wilderness. They are mysterious, and undesirable as companions, ignorant, superstitious, and by nature vicious, but like animals, they are dangerous only when disturbed in the pursuit of life.

The deeds of heroism, acts of valor and bravery, which caused the Araucanians to be immortalized in verse and recorded in the more sober lines of prose and history, were enacted during the days of the Spanish conquest.

In 1535, Don Diego de Almagro, the ally and rival of Pizarro, the despoiler of Peru, set out on a mission of conquest of the territory which now constitutes the Republic of Chile. He came not as a peaceful conqueror, as did the Incas long before, but as a tyrant and butcher, endeavoring to strike terror to the hearts of the Indians by acts of cruelty and inhuman treatment. They were treated as so many beasts to be enslaved or slaughtered at the pleasure of those who invaded the country in quest of gold, only. The attitude of Almagro and his followers aroused all the latent fierce combative spirit and resentful feelings that had been smoldering in the hearts of the aborigines during centuries of peaceful occupation of the country, and they resisted the invasion with a heroism and determination that finds few parallels in primitive warfare in the history of the world.

There were then no horses in the country, save those brought by the Spaniards, and the Indians had to fight on foot. The only weapons they possessed were bows and arrows, and lances made of long, flexible bamboo poles, the latter being the weapons of war. They had no military training or leaders and were ignorant of the arts of war, not even appreciating or understanding the advantages of combined or orderly attack. They depended entirely upon impetuous charges, ambush and secret night attacks. They had no fear of death, and not infrequently in battle they continued the conflict until every man engaged was killed. After years of warfare against the Spaniards, they learned the advantages to be gained by the use of horses in battle, which they adopted to some extent, but they did not follow the example of their enemies in the use of saddles, always riding bareback. After many generations of resistance to the invaders, they became more clever and systematic in attack and defense, having learned the importance of better preparation, councils of war and leadership. The Araucanian war extended intermittently over three centuries, and as the case in all wars, whether among barbarians or civilized nations, brought conspicuously to the front individuals who by superior intelligence and bravery were recognized as natural leaders. Chief among those who achieved fame as warriors, and whose deeds of daring form thrilling chapters in Chilean history, were Lautaro, a young brave who at the age of twenty was recognized as the leader of the Indian forces. It was Lautaro who first attempted to organize the various tribes and bands into something like a military force. After many successful battles he was surprised in a night attack by the Spaniards, near Talca, where almost the entire army under his command was annihilated, he being among the killed. He was decapitated, and his head taken to Santiago, where it was placed upon a pole and paraded through the streets as a victorious trophy.

Later Caupolican, one of the bravest of his race, assumed the leadership of the Araucanians. He was finally captured, and his enemies wishing to make an example of the chief cut off both his arms at the elbows, after which he was released. Caupolican pointing the stumps of his amputated arms at his persecutors said: “Be careful, be careful, murderers and persecutors, I will return to avenge these wrongs.” And notwithstanding his maimed condition he later returned to the attack with renewed courage and fierceness, and in many battles, Caupolican was first in the fray, and when beaten, was the last to retire from the field.

Since the days of the conquest of Chile, the Araucanian Indians have been hedged about and encroached upon with modern civilizing influences. Under these conditions they have degenerated until their greatness is only a memory. They now have fixed places of residence, and live upon the proceeds of their labor or lands.

Some of these Indians own large tracts of land, portions of which they cultivate, and upon which they raise large numbers of cattle and horses. The methods employed in farming are crude and primitive. The rich landowners are personages of note in the section of country where they live. And when one of them starts on a trip from his ranch, always on horseback, he is adorned with much silver in the way of ornaments. He is usually accompanied by five or six “mocetones” (servants), and travels in grand style.

Having few wants these Indians work only when it is necessary to supply their needs. Missionaries have tried in recent years to improve their moral condition, but have made little progress. The Araucanian ideas of a serious life are not deep-rooted; there is more stubbornness than intellect in their composition. The Incas who were the first foreign nation to invade Chile, taught them to worship the sun, but in their present degenerate condition they seem to worship only the God Bacchus. Strong drink and its attendant abuses, the curse of all barbarous races, when once introduced by civilized nations, is causing degeneration and a decrease in numbers. It will no doubt continue to aid materially in the consummation of their final extinction.

In 1890, during the administration of President Balmaceda, rail and wagon roads were built through the Araucanian country, and many towns, populated by Chilenos and foreigners sprung up along these routes of communication. Special European immigration was solicited and encouraged by government aid, for the settlement of portions of the territory. Foreign association and influence, changed conditions and environments affected radical changes in the character, customs, habits and beliefs of the Indians. They were brought face to face with the on-marching hosts of civilization, and confronted with the problem of accepting and adapting themselves to the new order of things, or extinction. The ultimate result will be the latter.

With the indigenous races of Chile, and the same is true of other countries, vices tread fast upon the heels of civilization. With the influx of peaceful neighbors, the martial valor of these warlike Indians seems to have disappeared. They have acquired a passion for the cheap brands of liquor introduced by foreigners, and in the indulgence of their appetites for strong drink they have become indolent, and are neglecting their farms and ranches. Many of them have turned their lands over to the colonists, to work on shares, and are thus enabled to lead lives of indolence and excessive indulgence. The raw liquor which they drink is called “Blanco Toro” (white bull); the vile tobacco they smoke is “peclen,” and their pipes are called “guitas.” They still consume large quantities of the ancient Indian drink, “chicha mascada,” which is made from corn that is first chewed by old women, and then put through a process of fermentation. A drink is made from flaxseed by the same process. They are determined and inveterate gamblers, their favorite game being cards, “cayo.” The game they play is peculiar to the tribe, and is called “achaco.” Among the traditional customs to which they cling tenaciously are their Indian dances, “loncomeos,” which are indulged in to the music of an instrument called “cuntum.” This instrument is odd in design and peculiar in tone, being a sort of combination banjo and tambourine.

The Araucanians are as improvident as they are dishonest, and as proud as they are lazy. Yet there is little extreme poverty and there are no beggars among them. Until recent years they were strict vegetarians, and still abstain from eating the flesh of cattle, but they have become so far civilized as to develop a fondness for horse meat. An Indian will willingly exchange a cow or bullock, regardless of value, for a horse, if the equine is sufficiently fat to make it desirable for food. Although many of them are skilled in the use of firearms, which have been generally introduced in recent years, they still manifest a fondness and preference for their bamboo lances, the weapon of war used by their ancestors. They frequently indulge in personal encounters, but always without weapons. These fights are questions of force and endurance, science being left out of the contest, and the belligerent methods employed are not sufficiently violent to result in death. The combatants clutch each other by the hair of the head and indulge in a game of pull-and-haul, the performance being accompanied usually with a volley of wrathful words uttered in a high shrill voice. Unlike the North American Indians they seldom resort to the use of a knife as a weapon of offense or defense.

The system of counting is strictly decimal—from one to ten. Twenty is two tens, fifty, five tens, and one hundred is ten tens; two hundred is two tens of ten, etc.

In case of sickness the “machi” (doctor) is called. That functionary passes his mouth over the entire body of the patient, pinching the flesh with his lips to ascertain the location of the affliction. When that portion is reached where the disease is supposed to be located, an incision is made, from which the “machi” sucks the blood with his mouth. Very few medicines are employed, the chief medicinal remedy used being the leaf of the canelo (wild cinnamon) tree, which is considered a cure for almost every ill.

The treatment of the body after death, previous to burial, is one of the queer and barbarous customs prevalent among the Araucanians. The body is hung up in a building, usually the house in which the person dies, and a slow wood fire built under the corpse. This process of smoking is kept up for several weeks. When the antiseptic principle of the creosote has completely cured the flesh, the body is taken down, and is considered ready for burial. A rope is then attached to the corpse, and a yoke of oxen employed to drag the body to the place of burial. This grewsome procession is preceded by a number of men armed with lances, who march in advance in order to drive away any enemies or evil spirits, that they may not be buried with the dead to disturb their future.

CHILOTES AND CHONOS.

The Chilote Indians inhabit the Island of Chiloe, and a portion of the coast country in the province of Llanquihue, in which territory they constitute the working population. They are a light copper color, and differ materially in physical appearance from the Araucanians. They are short in stature, heavy-set, broad, square shoulders, thick necks, large heads, hands and feet. They have no chiefs or tribal government, being peculiarly unrestrained in their personal lives by traditional laws or government. They are peaceful and industrious. Each person pursues such occupation as he may find or desire, that will afford a living, without regard to the wishes or requirements of others. The chief occupation of this small tribe in recent years is the manufacture of a rough grade of lumber and timbers from a species of red pine, called alerce. This wood has a beautiful straight grain, and the boards are made by riving, instead of sawing. This rough lumber is transported long distances upon the heads of the Indians, to the coast and interior towns, where the product is exchanged for articles of food and clothing.

The Chono Indians, inhabiting the archipelagoes of Guitecas and Chonos, are few in numbers and live in a barbarous state. They live in caves and small brush huts, and subsist entirely upon fish, which they procure along the island coast. The Chonos are small in stature, repulsive in appearance, and in intelligence, and their manner of living ranks little above animals.

FUEGUINOS OR CANOE INDIANS.

The archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, which consists of the large island of the same name, and numerous smaller islands, many of which are rocky, ice-bound and forbidding in aspect, constitutes the extreme southern territorial limits of the continent, and is separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan. The aborigines of this far southern territory are divided into three tribes,—the Onas, Yahgans and the Alacalupes. It is among these tribes, inhabiting a wild and forbidding country, undisturbed by the march of progress and civilization, that one may find the indigenous races living under the same conditions and maintaining the traditions and customs that prevailed before the coming of the white man to the western world.

ONAS.

The Onas are physically a fine race of people, the average height of the men being a little over six feet; the women are also tall and muscular. They have no system of tribal government, and are nomadic. Their only occupation is hunting the guanaco, a fur-coated herbivorous animal found in great numbers in the lower ranges of the Andes Mountains in the south. The meat of the guanaco constitutes the chief food supply of the Onas, and many of them subsist upon it entirely. The skins of the animals are made into a sort of manta, which constitutes the only costume worn by the men. They discard this costume when at war, or in pursuit of the guanaco. The women wear only a small piece of guanaco skin about their loins. The Onas live in families, one man usually possessing several women. There is little regard for marriage rites or usage, the more powerful and valiant of the men selecting such women from the tribe as they may desire, and are able to maintain against their rivals.

Their only weapons are bows and arrows, slings and harpoons, the latter being pointed with barbed bone spikes. The number of Onas is now estimated at three thousand five hundred, but like the other tribes in Chile they are decreasing.

YAHGANS.

The coast of the Beagle Channel and all the archipelago south of Tierra del Fuego to Cape Horn is inhabited by the Yahgan Indians. They have no chiefs nor tribal laws and are perhaps the lowest grade of human beings, in point of intelligence, and in the manner and customs of living, existing on the American continent. They are dwarfed in stature, have very dark skins and are repulsive in appearance. A peculiar feature of the Yahgans is the extraordinary projection of their front teeth, which are used for opening the shells of oysters and mollusks. These bivalves and crustacea, their sole article of food, are eaten raw.

The Yahgans, like their neighbors, the Alacalupes of the western channels of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, live almost constantly in their canoes, their only means of transportation. For their fishing expeditions they rarely pass the night on shore, traveling long distances in their frail barques. Considering the turbulent waters in the channels of the archipelago, and the fact that their canoes are made of trunks of trees, propelled with paddles, and that a single frail craft is sometimes laden with a family consisting of several persons, their feats are little less than marvels of navigation.

About fifty years ago English missions were established at Usuhaia, on the Wallston Islands, and later at Takanika, where some favorable results were obtained in distracting the natives somewhat from the pursuits of their nomadic life. A few of them utilize the knowledge acquired from the missionaries in the cultivation of the soil. But the missionaries having practically ceased their efforts in that inhospitable country, most of the Indians have lapsed into their traditional nomadic life, and their condition is perhaps worse to-day than ever before. To add to the misfortunes of these miserable nomads, who have sterility of soil and a rigorous climate to contend with, many of them have been placed in actual slavery in recent years by foreigners, who have acquired interests in the far south, and taking advantage of the helplessness of the Indians have impressed them into service without justification in moral or statutory law.

The Chilean government, apparently indifferent to their fate, has failed to interest itself in the cause of those unfortunate pariahs of human society, whose ranks are being rapidly decimated and whose utter extinction, under present conditions, is only a question of a few years.

In 1882, Mr. Bridge, the missionary, calculated the Yahgan population of the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego at three thousand, but in 1883, the scientific expedition of the “Romanche” estimated the diminishing population at one thousand three hundred. This estimate was based upon the number of canoes counted in the channels, approximately two hundred, each of which was manned by a family of six persons on the average. From later data, which has been furnished by people living in the archipelago, who have endeavored to make a census of the population, the number of this tribe is calculated at seven hundred.

On several occasions the Yahgans have requested foreigners who have visited the islands to present their case to the Chilean government and ask for relief from existing conditions. But so far nothing has been done in the way of providing for or improving the condition of these unfortunate people.

ALACALUPES.

The Alacalupes occupy the coast of the Patagonian Cordilleras to the northwest of the Straits of Magellan. They are also nomads, practically living in their canoes. Like the Yahgans they are small and are very dark, their color being that of mahogany. Notwithstanding the severity of the climate they wear no clothing, and their appearance is one of misery and total depravity. Their only food is fish, which they are most dexterous in catching, and which is eaten raw. This tribe has no chiefs, nor has it any laws governing or restricting individual action. They have no religion and observe no religious rites. All property, such as they have, is individual. Agriculture is unknown among them. When not in their canoes they remain along the shore, never going far inland. They sometimes cut branches from trees and arrange them as a protection against the fierce winds that sweep the coast in winter, but they never use fire, either as a protection against cold or for cooking.

Notwithstanding the fact that these poor, depraved human beings wear no clothing, they are not dead to a sense of modesty, as is sometimes evidenced when in the presence of foreigners. Marriage is a question of reciprocal sentiment, without ceremony or demonstration. Each of these tribes speaks a different language, which like all Indian languages is euphonious, and attractive in its simplicity.

PATAGONIANS.

The most intelligent and progressive race of aborigines in southern South America, a tribe that raises to considerable extent the general low level of life that exists in that section, is the Patagonians. They live in well-constructed, portable tents, called “toldos,” made from guanaco skins, fastened to wooden supports by rawhide thongs, and staked to the ground with pieces of bone. These toldos are so arranged that they can be easily taken apart and removed as necessity may require. Their food consists of the meat of the ostrich, guanaco and deer, all of which abound in the territory inhabited by them.

Physically the Patagonians are a superior race, the average height of the men being considerably over six feet, and many of them are fully seven feet tall. They are well proportioned, deep chested and muscular. They have intelligent faces, regular features, aquiline nose, high forehead and square chin. Their facial expression is one of amiability and good nature. The complexion of the men, when their faces are clean of paint, is a reddish brown; that of the women a healthy, ruddy hue. The young women are often good-looking, but the severe climate and their manner of living make them prematurely old and ugly. The men’s costume consists of a woolen cloth worn next to the body, and a heavy cloak made of guanaco skins, fastened at the neck and extending to the ankles. Their high boots, “buskins,” are made from the skin of the lower part of the hind legs of horses, and worn in the natural form. These buskins are procured from the wild horses, thousands of which roam over the pampas of Patagonia. The costume of the women is practically the same as that worn by the men, except that the clothing beneath the guanaco cloak is a little more elaborate.

They possess the Indian characteristic fondness for jewelry and personal adornment. They wear huge silver earrings, the pendants of which are sometimes eight inches square; they also adorn themselves with silver necklaces and quantities of beads. A Patagonian Indian six and a half feet tall, robed in a beautiful guanaco cloak with flowing folds, and adorned with huge silver ornaments, presents a picturesque and striking appearance.

The Patagonians differ from most Indian races in their observance of certain hygienic laws. They sleep upon beds made of guanaco skins, in tents that are kept fairly clean. Men, women and children indulge in a cold bath every morning in the year. This practice, in addition to aiding materially in building up and maintaining the splendid physical constitutions for which they are noted, enables them to withstand more easily the rigors of the severe climate. Their occupation is that of hunting the ostrich, guanaco and other animals indigenous to the territory. The flesh of the game is used for food, and the skins converted into robes and rugs, which they market at Punta Arenas, and for which they receive good prices. They are skillful hunters and the method they employ in hunting ostriches and guanacos is unique. They possess firearms, both rifles and revolvers, and are not unskilled in their use; they also carry swords, daggers and lances, which are used only when dismounted, and none of which are employed in the chase. Ostriches and animals are pursued on horseback, the hunter carrying a “bola,” which on near approach to the object of his pursuit he hurls with unerring aim, seldom failing to stun and entangle the bird or beast until it becomes an easy victim to his knife or lance. The bola, which is peculiar to Patagonia, consists of three round stones, or metal balls, the size of an orange, covered with rawhide. To each of these is fastened a plaited rawhide rope six feet in length. The ends of these ropes are united and fastened to a lasso. The hunter before casting the bola takes it in one hand and by swinging it rapidly over his head sends the balls rotating in the air with great velocity. He then casts it as the vaquero does his lasso. When it strikes, the revolving balls wrap the thongs tightly about the object of the chase, entangling it and putting a stop to its flight. The hunter then rides along by the side of the entrammeled prey and dispatches it. It is an exciting scene to see a Patagonian mounted upon a fleet pony racing across the pampa in pursuit of an ostrich. It possesses elements of sport that are peculiarly attractive to one who is fond of hunting.

These people have no religious creed and do not believe in a personal God. There is a tradition among them that there is a great good spirit who created them, but they have no well-defined creed, and religious feasts are unknown among them. They believe in the sanctity of animals, but do not worship any of them. They have a superstitious dread of demons, whom they try to propitiate through the mediation of medicine men, to whom only the demons are supposed to be visible. Charms and talismans are worn as a means of warding off evil spirits. They are ignorant of culture and conventionalities, yet they are not ungrateful or inhospitable. They never give presents, nor will they receive favors from others.

One of the queer customs of this peculiar people is that of celebrating marriages. The bridegroom secures the consent of both his own parents and those of the bride. The fathers of the young couple then move their tents near each other. An unsaddled horse is placed in front of each of the tents, and at a prearranged signal the bride and groom rush from their respective tents, mount the horses and gallop away on their wedding trip.