The population of Chile is mainly white, accounting for more than 90% of the national population of140,000, while the Indians are ethnic minorities, with less than one million. What about the Indians who have lived in America for thousands of years? Have their lives kept pace with the times? What are the strange customs of Mapuche people who live in remote areas of southern Chile and are shrouded in mystery?
It often rains in winter in southern Chile. One morning, it rained all night and the air was cool. We drove from the unique town of Temuco to the suburbs.
The car meandered along the muddy country road for more than an hour and came to a small village. I don't know when the rain stopped. This is a village with only five families, and a dozen Mapuche people poured out to welcome us.
This is the first time I have met Mapuche. Ah! Good face: dark complexion, swollen cheekbones, wide forehead, small eyes and slightly sunken eye sockets, much like the Mongolians in China. No wonder some archaeologists believe that the ancestors of American Indians were Mongolians in Asia. They first crossed the Bering Strait along the frozen soil in the north to America, where they settled and multiplied and became the earliest inhabitants of the American continent.
There are seven or eight very humble huts in the village, much like the melon-watching huts on two slopes in northern China. The owner of a family led me into a small dark room without windows. I can see some wooden beds through the light coming through the low wooden fence door. In the middle of the room, a black iron pot was hung on a tripod made of three sticks, and charcoal was burning under it. It is said that the fire will not go out all day. They use this iron pot to cook rice and wooden bowls to hold rice. The staple food is mostly potatoes and corn. They use oil lamps to light and drink river water, and their living conditions are very difficult. There is a shortage of local doctors and medicines, and witch doctors are prevalent. The so-called western civilization can't find a trace here. According to Chilean newspapers, Mapuche people are currently in extreme poverty in Chilean society.
Mache is a tribe of Chilean Indians, who owned it more than 500 years before Columbus discovered America. There are more than 600,000 Mapuches in Chile, most of whom live in the southern mountainous areas. They speak Mapuche and Spanish, the official language, but most of them are illiterate.
Mache people are brave and good at fighting, full of rebellious spirit, unwilling to be ravaged by foreign countries, and there are many related legends in history. /kloc-In the 6th century, Spanish colonists invaded Chile and greedily searched for gold. Mache fought bloody battles with the invaders on the Biobid River in southern Chile, preventing the enemy from going south and successfully defending his home.
Polygamy is still common among Mapuches. A rich man can have several wives. When engaged, the man should give the bride a bride price. If he can't afford the bride price, he can't marry the bride. The weight of the bride price depends on the financial situation of the woman's family. The bride price of rich women needs A Niu Post Horse, while the bride price of ordinary women only needs a cow or a horse. The number of cattle and sheep is still the basis for Mapuche people to measure their wealth. Many girls are especially envious, because they can get horses and cows when they get married. Therefore, the Mapuche people's best wish for the newlyweds is to have a noble daughter as soon as possible. Mache women gave birth to children, not lying at home on maternity leave, but picking up the newborn baby and jumping into the river or pond to take a bath. Mache people think that this can make mother and son live a long and safe life, drive away bad luck and bring good luck.
Mache people still practice the toast system. There are more than 2,000 Mapuche villages in Chile, and several villages have a chief. Chiefs are held by local people with certain economic status and high respect, who are responsible for resolving disputes and presiding over public welfare undertakings.
These people can sing and dance. At the end of the visit, enthusiastic Mapuche performed a dance for us. Among them, the male owner of a family played bamboo sheng, his wife played tambourine, and a boy wearing black cloth and playing eagle heard the sound of dancing. It is said that Mapuche people love to dance eagle dance, which reminds me of Mapuche people's strong character, just like eagles flying in the Andes across South America!