They Have NOT “Risen Up and Rebelled”: Mapuche Offense and Defense in the 16th and 17th Centuries

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Rising Up Against Authority: Archaeological Approaches to Rebellion" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The so-called “War of Arauco” in south-central Chile in the 16th and 17th Centuries is often referred to as a “rebellion,” “uprising,” or “insurrection” by the indigenous Mapuche against the colonizing Spanish. These terms suggest, and popular ideas perpetuate the idea, that the Spanish effectively colonized southern Chile and brought the Mapuche under imperial authority. Only after several attempts as well as marked modification to cultural practices were the Mapuche able to effectively “rebel” against their Spanish overseers and gain their independence. However, a re-evaluation of the documents from the time period through the lens of the archaeolgical record paints a different picture. Rather than “uprising” the Mapuche instead engaged in intentional offensive and defensive actions from the outset of contact, keeping the Spanish from exercising any degree of effective colonial control in Mapuche territory, eventually succeeding in forcing the removal of all Spanish settlements.This evaluation may aid in re-examining the nature of indigenous-European interactions elsewhere in the Americas.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Rising Up Against Authority: Archaeological Approaches to Rebellion   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51000