The Araucanian Indian in Chile

The ARAUCANIANS are one of the larger of the native peoples of South America, and they include different ethnic sub-groups, some of which are now extinct. A relatively large population, once geographically spread extensively over the southern cone of South America, at present they are reduced to only two close­ly related ethnic groups: 1) the Mapuche of southern Chile (the largest one), and 2) the neighboring Argentinian Araucanians of the southwestern Neuquen province, (see Map on fig.l).