Mapuche Indians and Maqui Berry

Mapuche Indians and Maqui Berry

Maqui & Mapuche Indians: 

It has long been revered that the Mapuche Indians attested their strength and abilities to protect their land from invasion to the power they received from consuming the maqui berry and more specifically an alcoholic beverage known as chicha made from the maqui berry. Although this may or may not have been the case, it is historical fact that the maqui berry has been consumed and used in a wide variety of medicinal aplications by the Mapuche Indians for hundreds of years and is in fact still used to this day. The anthocyanins in maqui berries protect low density lipoproteins from oxidation, reduce inflammation and help to protect our cells from oxidative stress. Maqui berries are traditionally used today to increase strength, stamina and energy levels as well as to treat ailments such as sore throat, diarrhea, ulcers and fever.

NOTE: The word “mapu” means earth/land and “che” means people in the native language of the Mapuche known as Mapudungun. Together the two words refer to the “people of the land“, or Mapuches.

MAPUCHE HISTORY:

 

BACKGROUND

The Mapuche people were the first inhabitants of the area today known as Chile and Argentina.  Before the Spanish arrived in 1541, the Mapuche occupied a vast territory in the southern cone of the continent (Patagonia) and their population numbered about two million.  At present they number approximately 1.5 million (constituting over 10% of the total population) in Chile, and two hundred thousand in Argentina. The Mapuche nation now constitutes the third largest indigenous society in South America. 

 

Defeat of the Inca

During the middle of the 15th century the Incan empire began their dominance of the continent. Moving south from Peru, an Inca army headed by Inca general Tupac Yupanqui pushed its way through the arrid and uninhabitable six hundred mile stretch of the Atacama Desert which lies in the northern sector of Chile and runs along the borders of both Peru and Bolivia. Upon arrival to the northern sector of the central valley, the Inca army managed to successfully advance approximately half way down the length of the five hundred mile valley. It was here at the gateway to the “Lake District” that the Incas ran into fierce resistance from the indigenous Mapuche Indians who decisively defeated their advance and attempts to cross the Maule River (Rio Maule). This confrontation is known as the Battle of the Maule named after the Maule River . *The Incas settled into their newfound territory in Chile, but made no further efforts to forge further south into Mapuche territory. 
 
NOTE: The word maule translates to “rainy” in Mapudungun, the native language of the Mapuche. 
 

Defeat of the Spanish

Less than a century later, European conquistadors began to arrive in the territory of Chile. Ferdinand Magellan was the first European explorer to discover Chile, setting foot in the Andean country on October 21, 1520. A few decades later, a Spanish army led by Pedro de Valdavia in 1541 crossed into the central valley after traveling from Peru via the Inca route. He founded Santiago that February and soon thereafter made his way further south into Mapuche territory establishing a stronghold there for many years. However, this was not to last as resilient Mapuche warriors finally breached his foothold in 1553 and welcomed him by bounding him to a tree and beheading him. This period of conflict is referred to the Arauco War and lasted three centuries making it one of the longest wars in history. 

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