﻿Vol.2] 
  ARAUCANIANS 
  IN 
  ARGENTINA 
  — 
  CANALS 
  FRAU 
  763 
  

  

  lera 
  between 
  lat. 
  37° 
  and 
  40° 
  S., 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  be 
  Araucanized. 
  

   This 
  process 
  must 
  have 
  begun 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  17th 
  century, 
  

   as 
  we 
  can 
  clearly 
  see 
  from 
  the 
  records 
  of 
  a 
  famous 
  criminal 
  trial 
  

   held 
  in 
  Mendoza 
  in 
  1658. 
  On 
  this 
  occasion, 
  some 
  captured 
  Pehuenche 
  

   who 
  testified 
  under 
  oath, 
  spoke 
  only 
  their 
  own 
  language 
  and 
  had 
  

   no 
  knowledge 
  of 
  Araucanian, 
  but 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  some 
  chiefs 
  and 
  

   certain 
  cultural 
  elements 
  were 
  already 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  Arau- 
  

   canians. 
  This 
  elemental 
  process 
  of 
  Auracanization 
  must 
  have 
  

   terminated 
  toward 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  century, 
  for 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  

   18th-century 
  documents, 
  the 
  Pehuenche 
  already 
  spoke 
  the 
  Araucanian 
  

   language. 
  Jerdnimo 
  Pietas 
  (1846), 
  e. 
  g., 
  attests 
  this 
  in 
  his 
  "Costum- 
  

   bres 
  de 
  los 
  Araucanos." 
  

  

  The 
  Araucanians 
  were 
  led 
  to 
  influence 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  the 
  Cordillera 
  

   and 
  later 
  of 
  the 
  eastern 
  plains 
  as 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  their 
  war 
  against 
  the 
  

   conquistadors. 
  From 
  the 
  beginning, 
  the 
  Indians 
  of 
  Chile 
  adopted 
  

   Spanish 
  war 
  tactics 
  and 
  equipment, 
  especially 
  the 
  horse. 
  To 
  procure 
  

   horses, 
  which 
  were 
  so 
  important 
  to 
  warfare, 
  they 
  went 
  to 
  the 
  plains 
  

   of 
  Argentina, 
  which 
  were 
  densely 
  inhabited 
  by 
  these 
  quadrupeds. 
  

   After 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  abandoned 
  the 
  original 
  Buenos 
  Aires 
  in 
  1541, 
  they 
  

   left 
  horses, 
  which 
  multiplied 
  so 
  rapidly 
  in 
  this 
  favorable 
  environment 
  

   with 
  its 
  abundant 
  herbaceous 
  plains 
  that 
  during 
  the 
  17th 
  and 
  18th 
  

   centuries 
  there 
  were 
  hundreds 
  of 
  thousands 
  of 
  horses 
  in 
  wild 
  herds. 
  

  

  During 
  this 
  period, 
  culture 
  exchange 
  among 
  the 
  indigenous 
  popu- 
  

   lation 
  was 
  intensified: 
  The 
  Pampa, 
  or 
  pre-Araucanian 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  

   the 
  plains, 
  gave 
  horses; 
  the 
  Araucanians, 
  or 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  Chile, 
  

   gave 
  textiles 
  and 
  other 
  elements 
  of 
  a 
  higher 
  culture. 
  The 
  Pehuenche, 
  

   who 
  lived 
  amid 
  both, 
  were 
  the 
  intermediaries. 
  

  

  Other 
  geographic 
  factors 
  also 
  facilitated 
  cultural 
  exchange. 
  The 
  

   Andes 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  of 
  the 
  Araucaria 
  pine, 
  domain 
  of 
  the 
  Pehuenche, 
  

   are 
  relatively 
  low 
  with 
  numerous 
  passes 
  which 
  are 
  open 
  throughout 
  

   the 
  year. 
  Moreover, 
  the 
  Chilean 
  region 
  opposite 
  the 
  Pehuenche 
  

   habitat 
  had 
  the 
  greatest 
  concentration 
  of 
  Araucanians 
  engaged 
  in 
  

   war; 
  the 
  latter 
  frequently 
  took 
  refuge 
  in 
  the 
  Cordillera. 
  Finally, 
  the 
  

   territories 
  east 
  of 
  Pehuenche 
  were 
  never 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  Spaniards, 
  

   thus 
  leaving 
  the 
  mountaineers 
  free 
  to 
  move 
  at 
  will. 
  

  

  All 
  these 
  reasons 
  brought 
  the 
  continuous 
  Araucanian 
  infiltrations 
  

   first 
  to 
  the 
  Pehuenche. 
  Once 
  this 
  people 
  was 
  Araucanized, 
  the 
  great 
  

   expansion 
  on 
  the 
  eastern 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  mountain 
  range 
  began. 
  Its 
  base 
  

   was 
  the 
  Pehuenche 
  region 
  or 
  western 
  part 
  of 
  Neuquen, 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  

   extended 
  toward 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  the 
  east, 
  gradually 
  occupying 
  the 
  

   greater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Argentine 
  central 
  plain 
  and 
  bordering 
  regions. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  expansion 
  of 
  the 
  now-Araucanized 
  Pehuenche 
  was 
  to 
  the 
  

   north, 
  and 
  it 
  invaded 
  the 
  southern 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  Province 
  of 
  

   Mendoza. 
  This 
  region 
  had 
  been 
  the 
  ancient 
  domain 
  of 
  the 
  Puelche 
  

   de 
  Cuyo, 
  the 
  second 
  of 
  the 
  three 
  previously 
  mentioned 
  non-Araucanian 
  

  

  