﻿688 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  cedrus 
  chilensis). 
  Of 
  particular 
  cultural 
  importance 
  are 
  the 
  alerce 
  

   (Fitzroya 
  patagonica) 
  and 
  canelo 
  (Drimys 
  winteri). 
  

  

  The 
  "Pehuenche" 
  country 
  comprises 
  the 
  higher 
  slopes 
  and 
  inter- 
  

   cordilleran 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Andes, 
  poorly 
  adapted, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  

   low 
  temperatures, 
  to 
  horticulture. 
  Its 
  most 
  characteristic 
  feature 
  

   bearing 
  upou 
  culture 
  is 
  the 
  Chilean 
  pine 
  (Araucaria 
  imbricata), 
  which 
  

   covers 
  great 
  areas 
  in 
  the 
  high 
  intercordilleran 
  valleys 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  

   upper 
  western 
  and 
  eastern 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  Andes 
  from 
  about 
  lat. 
  37°20' 
  

   to 
  40°20' 
  S. 
  

  

  The 
  open 
  country 
  of 
  the 
  Argentine 
  Araucanians 
  is 
  described 
  more 
  

   in 
  detail 
  in 
  the 
  paper 
  on 
  "The 
  Southern 
  Hunters" 
  (q.v., 
  Handbook, 
  

   vol. 
  1, 
  p. 
  127). 
  

  

  ARAUCANIAN 
  TERRITORY 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  first 
  coming 
  of 
  the 
  Whites 
  to 
  Chile, 
  ^ra^caman-speaking 
  

   peoples 
  occupied 
  all 
  the 
  area 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Andean 
  uplands 
  from 
  the 
  

   southern 
  tip 
  of 
  the 
  Island 
  of 
  Chiloe 
  to, 
  at 
  least, 
  the 
  Rio 
  Choapa. 
  The 
  

   southern 
  limit 
  was 
  Corcovado 
  Gulf, 
  immediately 
  south 
  whereof, 
  in 
  

   the 
  Guaianecas 
  Islands 
  and 
  the 
  archipelago 
  beyond, 
  were 
  the 
  non- 
  

   Araucanian 
  Chono 
  (Cooper, 
  1917, 
  pp. 
  30-34). 
  The 
  northern 
  limit 
  is 
  

   less 
  sharply 
  definable 
  from 
  our 
  sources. 
  To 
  judge 
  from 
  Luis 
  de 
  

   Valdivia's 
  explicit 
  statement 
  (1887, 
  p. 
  6) 
  and 
  from 
  local 
  place 
  names, 
  

   the 
  zone 
  between 
  the 
  Choapa 
  and 
  Coquimbo 
  was 
  also 
  at 
  least 
  partly 
  

   Araucanian. 
  

  

  Whether 
  the 
  Indians 
  who 
  in 
  the 
  16th 
  and 
  17th 
  centuries 
  dwelt 
  in 
  

   or 
  adjacent 
  to 
  the 
  Araucaria 
  imbricata 
  forests 
  of 
  the 
  higher 
  inter- 
  

   cordilleran 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Andes 
  between 
  about 
  lat. 
  37° 
  and 
  40° 
  S., 
  

   whose 
  staple 
  plant 
  food 
  was 
  Araucaria 
  pinons, 
  and 
  who 
  were 
  called 
  

   "Puelche" 
  (Olaverria, 
  1852, 
  p. 
  15) 
  and 
  later 
  "Pehuenche" 
  by 
  contem- 
  

   porary 
  Spanish 
  writers, 
  were 
  then 
  Araucanian-speaking, 
  is 
  not 
  clear. 
  

  

  Latcham 
  assembled 
  a 
  certain 
  amount 
  of 
  evidence, 
  mostly 
  non- 
  

   linguistic, 
  in 
  support 
  of 
  his 
  view 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  not 
  then 
  Araucanian- 
  

   speaking, 
  but 
  that 
  they 
  became 
  Araucanized 
  in 
  language 
  in 
  the 
  18th 
  

   century 
  (Latcham, 
  1929-30, 
  63: 
  150-72). 
  They 
  were 
  first 
  explicitly 
  

   recorded 
  as 
  Araucanian-speakmg 
  by 
  Pietas 
  in 
  1729 
  (1846, 
  p. 
  499; 
  

   cf. 
  Molina, 
  1901, 
  p. 
  263; 
  1878 
  b, 
  pp. 
  492-93). 
  The 
  evidence 
  from 
  the 
  

   earlier 
  sources 
  is 
  more 
  puzzling. 
  Only 
  two 
  of 
  the 
  sources, 
  the 
  "Pro- 
  

   ceso 
  criminal 
  de 
  1658" 
  and 
  Rosales, 
  give 
  clues 
  to 
  the 
  language 
  spoken 
  

   by 
  the 
  pifion-eating 
  peoples 
  called 
  therein 
  "Pehuenche" 
  (" 
  Pegiienche") 
  . 
  

   The 
  pifion-eating 
  "Pehuenche" 
  described 
  in 
  the 
  "Proceso 
  criminal 
  de 
  

   1658" 
  were 
  probably 
  non-Araucanian 
  speaking 
  (1929, 
  pp. 
  47, 
  136, 
  

   143-44, 
  152, 
  196; 
  P. 
  Cabrera, 
  1929, 
  pp. 
  46-47). 
  But 
  Rosales, 
  in 
  his 
  

   account 
  of 
  his 
  peace 
  mission 
  in 
  1650 
  or 
  1653 
  through 
  the 
  upper 
  cor- 
  

   dilleran 
  "Pegiienche" 
  country 
  south 
  of 
  lat. 
  38° 
  S. 
  to 
  the 
  "Puelche" 
  

   country 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  "Pegiienche" 
  country, 
  is 
  careful 
  to 
  state 
  that 
  

   the 
  "Puelche" 
  spoke 
  a 
  noii-Araucaniaii 
  tongue, 
  whereas 
  he 
  makes 
  no 
  

  

  