l68 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



ordinarily succeeded him. If the oldest son was a minor, the deceased father's 

 brother or nearest male relative assumed the office until the son grew up. If 

 the deceased left no male offspring, the office went to one of the nearest con- 

 sanguineal or affinal kin. In some cases, where the heir was unfit or incompetent, 

 some other man would assume the office. 



Decisions regarding peacetime affairs and warlike undertakings were usually 

 made in conferences of the responsible men and sub-heads at the house or meeting- 

 ground of the head or "chief" after free expression of views and by common 

 agreement. 



At the time of the present study the Araucanians were adjusting 

 to the general laws of Chile, both provincial and national, and to regu- 

 lations laid down specifically for them by the Chilean Government. 



Basic customs of the early government, however, were discernible. 

 The head of the Araucanian local unit of government is, as formerly, 

 the iil'me, now generally spoken of as cacique (the Spanish word for 

 Indian chief) ; as in former times, the cacique is assisted by a man of 

 his choice, known as lorjko. The cacique is looked to for leadership 

 when it is required. His powers of law interpretation, however, have 

 been taken over, to a large degree, by Juzgodos de Indios (Chilean 

 courts of justice for Indians) and those of law enforcement by the 

 carabineros (Chilean police guards). In the early days the cacique 

 could inflict death as a punishment in certain cases. The legislative 

 power, which formerly rested in the male population acting as a body, 

 still functions today, but is restricted largely to passing petitions on 

 to the Chilean Government. 



A part of the land traditionally occupied by the Araucanians has 

 been made secure to them by the Chilean Government and is known by 

 the Spanish word reduccion. Chilean regulations for Indians affect the 

 entire reduccion. The Araucanians themselves know the boundaries 

 of the reduccion and respect the Chilean regulations regarding In- 

 dians, and, with the cognizance of the Chilean Government, carry on 

 within the reduccion, in modified form, their traditional government 

 in political-economic units known as witran mapu. A witran mapu 

 consists of the land laid claim to, occupied, and cultivated by a group 

 of related families, plus the land owned in common by them. Common 

 land is wooded land, within the area of occupancy, not yet cleared for 

 grazing or agricultural purposes. Each witran mapu has a name. The 

 related families within a witran mapu are known as a kunpem. There 

 are no villages. 



The cacique of Alepiie gave the following list of witran mapu in 

 Alepue area today and the related families in each : Alepue, family 

 Lienlaf ; Chan Chan, family Martin ; Pelluco, family Imigo ; Mehuin, 

 families Huecheman, Mauelpan, and Marilaf; Maiquillahue, family 



