araucanoa araucana
The Araucanos or Mapuches from what is now Chile and western Argentina fiercely resisted both Inca and Spanish attempts to colonize them. Their indomitable spirit is celebrated in Alonso de Ercilla's epic poem La Araucana. Their language is today spoken by over 300,000 people and many words of Araucanian origin are used in Chilean and Argentinian Spanish. The name Chile is Araucanian for "Land's End".
AraucanosMapuchesLa AraucanaChile
