Mapuche religion is the traditionalNative American religion of theMapuche people. It is practiced primarily in south-central Chile and southwest Argentina. The tradition has no formal leadership or organizational structure and displays much internal variation.
Mapuche theology incorporates a range of deities and spirits. One of the most prominent deities is Ngünechen, sometimes equated with theChristian God. Communal prayer ceremonies are termedngillatun and involve the provision of offerings andanimal sacrifice. Various different ritual specialists were historically active among the Mapuche, but in the 20th century many of these died out, leaving themachi as the main kind. Thesemachi are tasked with overseeing healing anddivination, tasks accomplished through their communication with spirits.
Historically, the Mapuche were politically independent and prevented conquest by theIncan andSpanish Empires. In 1883 the Chilean military defeated the Mapuche and began to restrict them to reservations. Chilean efforts were then made to convert the Mapuche toCatholicism. From the 1990s, Mapuche religion underwent a revitalisation, with greater visibility and efforts to use it to encourage tourism.
Mapuche religion is not institutional.[1] In Latin America, traditional religions are rarely pure, unadulterated continuations from the traditions that existed prior to European contact.[2] The term "Mapuche," found in the Mapuche language, means "people of the land".[3] Another term for this people, used by the Spanish colonialists, was the Araucanians.[3] Contemporary Mapuche people are largely bilingual, speaking both their own language,Mapudungan, andSpanish, the main colonial language of the region.[3]
In order to describe the beliefs of theMapuche people, it is important to note that there are no written records about their ancient legends and myths from before theSpanish arrival, since their religious beliefs werepassed down orally. Their beliefs are not necessarily homogenous; among differentethnic groups, and the families, villages, and territorial groups within those ethnic groups, there are variations and differences and discrepancies in these beliefs. Likewise, it is important to understand that many of the Mapuche beliefs have been integrated into themyths and legends of Chilean folklore, and to a lesser extent,folklore in some areas ofArgentina. Many of these beliefs have been altered and influenced byChristianity, due largely to theevangelization done bySpanish missionaries.[4][5] This happened chiefly through thesyncretism of these beliefs and also through misinterpretation or adaptation within both Chilean and Argentine societies. This syncretism has brought about several variations and differences of these core beliefs as they have become assimilated withinChilean,Argentine and even Mapuche culture. Today, these cultural values, beliefs and practices are still taught in some places with an aim to preserve different aspects of this indigenous Mapuche culture.[6]
Mapuche traditional religion features a pantheon of gods and goddesses.[7] The Meli Küyen are the four moon spirits; the Meli Wangülen are the four spirits of the stars.[8] Thewenu püllüam are ancestral spirits in the sky.[8]
Ngünechen is also known as Chaw Dios (Old Man God) and Ñuke Dios (Old Woman God).[9] Ngünechen first appeared in Mapuche religion during the 19th century; it has been argued that the introduction of this deity was a response to the Chilean national hierarchies.[8] The root of this divinity's name,genche, first appeared in 1601 to describe a Spanish landowner.[8] Many Mapuche equate Ngünechen with the Christian God, although other Mapuche traditionalists stress they are different.[10]
Thengen are nature spirits.[8] They populate the earth and are in turn prayed to by other spirits.[9] Thesengen are the owners of particular environments and can capture, possess, and punish those who enter their realms without permission.[11] Thefoki spirits are intermediaries between the forest and humanity, connecting the two through the rainbow.[12] Like humans, thefoki engage in prayer.[12]
Both the deities and other spirits are thought to have both good and bad sides.[9]The gods and spirits can grant wealth, good harvests, and fertility if propitiated with offerings.[13] If people fail to provide offerings or transgress norms calledadmapu, Machuche traditionalists believe that deities and spirits can punish people with illness, scarcity, or infertility.[14]
Variouswekufe spirits kill humans. Thesumpall is a blond mermaid who seduces men into the river, where it kills them and steals their souls.[15] Thewitranalwe takes the form of a thin Spaniard on a horse; his wife is the small, luminescentañchümalleñ, who sucks people's blood.[15] The Punkure and Punfüta are spouses who seduce their victims in their dreams to drain their life energy.[16]
Sun and moon worship among the Mapuche have parallels among the Central Andean peoples and theInca religion.[17] Indeed, in among Mapuches as well as Central Andean peoples the moon (Mama Killa, Cuyen in Mapudungun) and the sun (Inti, Antu in Mapudungun) are spouses.[17]Mapuche,Quechua andAymara words for the sun and the moon appear to be a borrowing fromPuquina language.[18] Thus the parallels in cosmology may be traced back to the days of theTiwanaku Empire in which Puquina is thought to have been an important language.[18]
In Mapuche traditional belief, the cosmos consists of three vertical planes, each comprising a different force that remains in conflict with the other two.[9] The upper realm is termed thewenu mapu and is associated with goodness, purity, and the forces of creation. Located in the sky and containing the sun and the moon, it is the home of the gods and the ancestral spirits.[9] It is associated with the colors white, yellow, and blue.[9]
The earth is calledmapu and it is here that the struggle between good and evil takes place.[9]Mapu is associated with the colors green and blood red.[9]The underworld beneathmapu is termedmunche mapu, a realm associated with evil, death, destruction, and pollution.[9] It is also associated with volcanic eruptions, whirlwinds, and cemeteries, as well as the colors bright red and opaque black.[9] It is inmunche mapu that thewekufe spirits live.[9]
The wordWallmapu originally meant "Universe"[19] as well as "set of surrounding lands".
Mapuche traditional religion teaches that humans, other animals, and natural phenomena all have a trata, or body, as well as a distinct spiritual essence.[11] The living soul is called apüllü, while humans also have a soul that survives bodily death, theam.[9] According to the traditional belief, Mapuche people fear that their spirit can be captured and manipulated by awekufe spirit or a witch;[11] spirits of the dead can for instance be captured and polluted by witches unless they are appropriately dispatched to the afterlife.[20]
The spirits of the dead can reside in an eternal shadow realm.[21] The continuing relationship of mutual dependence between the living and their ancestors is an important facet of Mapuche traditional religion.[22] Propitiating these ancestors is thus a key ritual among Mapuche traditionalists.[22] If ancestral spirits do not feel they are being acknowledged, they may return to the land of the living to remind their descendants of their obligations.[20]
There are differing views among scholars on whetherancestors play a significant role in Mapuche religion.[23] Wine or chicha is regularly poured for the ancestors.[7]
In traditional Mapuche culture, the transgression of social norms or the failure to fulfil commitments to kin, ancestors, and gods can result in individual and social illness as well as social chaos.[24] Rural Mapuche women often place great emphasis on modesty.[25] In Mapuche society, men are permitted to have multiple wives.[26]
Prayers are calledngillatunes.[12] The prayers of themachi are usually in their native Mapudungu language, although rituals and other situations will often see them use both Mapudungu and Spanish.[27] There are often taboos on photographing traditional rituals.[26] Prior to the Chilean colonial conquest of the Mapuche, there were an array of different ritual specialists.[3]
Thengillatun has been described as "the main rituals" of contemporary Mapuche religion.[3] The whole community takes part in thengillatun rituals,[28] which occur within a consecrated space.[29] These involve prayers and animal sacrifices and are believed to maintain balance among cosmic forces and avoid catastrophe.[30] Thengillatun ritual is designed to ensure cosmic wholeness,[31] and is often performed both before and after the harvest.[32]
Thengillatuwe is the collective altar;[33] it is also calledla cruza (the cross).[34] It takes the form of a pole with the face and arms of either Ngünechen or an ancestor carved on it;[34] it will face east and is thought to protect the community.[34] A Catholic priest will often bless it after it has been erected.[34] White and blue crosses, representing the powers of the sky, are often planted beside it.[34] Thengillatuwe represents an axis mundi.[34] It is located inside thengillatun fields, which are deemed sacred and left uncultivated.[35] If thengillatuwe is destroyed it is believed that catastrophe will befall both the person responsible and the community to whom it belongs.[35]
Until the early 20th century, thengillatun was often led by male community elders known asngenpin (orators).[36] By the 21st century, thengenpin were still officiating in the Pewenche and Williche areas butmachi were instead doing so in the areas of the south-central valleys and the Andean foothills.[37]
Thengillatun ritual can take over two days to complete.[38] Those participating will typically wear Mapuche traditional clothing and may have their faces painted.[38] During the ceremony, prayers are offered to Ngünechen,[38] with offerings of maize, beans, andmuday placed at the foot of thengillatuwe.[32] An animal such as a sheep would then be sacrificed.[32] If the community is in danger and needs important messages,machi will go into a trance at thengillatun but this does not always happen.[32] Those assembled will dance both in rows and in a circle around thengillatuwe.[39] Men on horseback perform theawün, circling the dances in imitation of the sun.[40]
Historical accounts testify to a range of different types of ritual specialist active among Mapuche communities prior to the late 19th century.[3] European colonial accounts indicate that the most important specialists at the time were theampivoe orampivavoe who invoked spirits for healing purposes, and thevoiguebuyes orvoiguevoyes tasked with influencing ancestral spirits and combatting witchcraft.[3] The scholar Ricardo Latcham suggested that thengenpin replaced the role of thevoiguebuyes prior to the 19th century.[3]
By the end of the 20th century, the dominant ritual specialist in Mapuche traditional religion was themachi,[41] a figure who is tasked with healing, divination, and participating in certain other rituals.[3] In English language studies, various anthropologists have called themachi "shamans",[42] although the term "shamanism" has never received a commonly agreed definition and has been used in at least four distinct ways.[43]
Themachi are believed to obtain their powers from various natural and ancestral spirits, as well as from Ngünechen.[9] They also draw on the power of special locations, such as waterfalls, lakes, volcanoes, and the rock.[8] They embody and travel with a spirit called amachi püllü as well as having an ancestral spirit of all themachi, thefilew.[9] Mapuche traditionalists believe that themachi are capable of using their powers for either good or evil,[44] thus existing on a spectrum of good to bad.[13]
Mapuche traditionalists believe that the spirits call certain individuals to becomemachi, sending them dreams (pewma) and visions (perimontum).[45] The spirits may inflict an illness on the person, themachikutran, which can include boils, fever, foaming at the mouth, insomnia, partial blindness, and partial paralysis.[46] Themachikutran is only alleviated by their initiation as amachi through themachiluwün ritual.[47] As the spirits are insistent, it is thought difficult for a person to resist them, although some people do.[45] Through visions and dreams, the spirits reveal the use of herbs to the prospective machi and then give them their ritual tools for healing, such as the drum and their spirit animals.[48]
Machis may experience their initiation through various ways. They may inherit theirmachi spirit from a deceased machi from their material family; experience direct initiation in the midst of a powerful natural event like an earthquake or lightning; or they may experience a vision called theperimontum in which a spirit appears before them.[49] Those who have gained initiation through the latter two methods are considered more powerful although also more morally ambiguous.[50]
The trance states entered by themachi are calledküymi.[51] During their rituals they typically perceive themselves as being possessed by a spirit.[52] During possession, the spirit mounts themachi's head, a process called thelongkoluupan.[53] Sometimes, the possessing spirit is thought to convey messages from Ngünechen.[54]The words spoken in a possessed trance state may then be interpreted by an individual, often a family members, called thedungumachife. Thisdungumachife will elicit information about a patient's illness and treatment.[55] Together, themachi anddungumachife are sometimes seen to represent the Ñuke Dios and Chaw Dios respectively.[31]Somemachi use hallucinogens during their rituals, namelypalo de bruja or seeds of themiyaya orchamico, although othermachis are critical of this practice.[56]
As eachmachi is regarded as the "spiritual bride" of theirfilew, they wear female-associated clothing, including blue or purple head scarves, black shawls, and silver jewellery.[57] Bacigalupo noted that this meant thatmachis engaged in a form of "ritual transvestism".[57]Machi may have sexual relationships or remain celibate;[25] in Chilean culture they are stereotyped as homosexuals.[58] Some find the burden of being amachi too much and abandon the profession.[59]Themachi has to periodically renew their powers through thengeykurewen rituals or they will become ill.[47] Thengeykurewen ritual entails renewing the ritualist's marriage ties with theirfilew.[57]
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At their home,machis will have a timber pole called arewe ("the purest"), alternatively referred to as thefoye orcanelo.[33] This usually consists of the trunk of a laurel or oak tree, into which steps have been notched.[60] Branches ofklon,triwe,foye, orcoligüe will often be tied to the side.[61] Therewe represents the axis mundi of the world, a nexus between the human and spirit worlds, and is positioned to face east.[33]
Thefilew is believed to live in therewe;[60] kopiwe flowers, food, drink, and herbal remedies, all things regarded as female, are placed on or around therewe to feed therewe, while knives, volcanic rocks, and chueca sticks, all things thought male, are places atop therewe and on its steps to protect thefilew from evil spirits.[61] It is on this pole that themachi travels to other worlds while in a trance state;[60] during rituals, themachis ascend the steps on therewe to inform their audience that they have entered their visionary flight.[56] Somemachis put allang llang, a rainbow-shaped arch made from vines, above therewe; it represents their connection with forest spirits.[62] After thengeykurewen, manymachis place their oldrewe into a river to decay, replacing it with a new one; othermachis believe that theirrewe should only be deposited in a river after their deaths.[56]
Themachi uses a shallow drum called akultrun. This consists of a laurel or oak bowl with goatskin stretched across it, and is often conceptualised as a womb.[63] Often, four items are placed inside the drum; two of these are regarded as male and may include darts, bullets, foye leaves, charcoal or volcanic rocks, while the other two are regarded as female and can include maize, seeds, wool, or kopiwe flowers.[33] The goatskin will be decorated with a painted cross, representing themeli witran mapu, or fourfold division of the world.[33]
In Mapuche society, harmfulwitchcraft is calledkalkutun or, in Spanish,brujeria.[64] The witch or sorcerer themselves are called akalku.[65] Mapuche society does not contain self-acknowledgedkalku.[13] In Mapuche lore,kalkutun can involve invoking harmful spirits through incantations; poisoning a victim by placing a substance calledfuñapue into their food or drink; by addingfuñapue to an object associated with the victim, such as their hair, nail clippings, clothes, or belongings; or by putting cemetery earth on the place where the victim stands or sits.[66] Thefuñapue substance was composed of nails, hair, poisonous herbs, cemetery soil, parts of decomposing animal corpses, or pieces of worms, lizards, or frogs.[67]
Mapuche who believe themselves afflicted bykalkutun will often hire amachi to counteract it.[44]In the Mapuche traditional worldview, thekalku and themachi play a role in balancing the conflicting forces in the cosmos.[9]The religion holds that the most powerfulkalku aremachi who succumbed to those evil spirits they were fighting.[11] Thosemachi who transgress social norms or acquire significant wealth and prestige are sometimes accused of beingkalku.[13] Non-Mapuche, orwingka, or often assumed to bekalku, as they are perceived as being wealthier than most Mapuche and as valuing individual gain above communal well-being.[27]
Themachi performdivination rituals,[28] the latter referred to aspewuntun.[68]
Various traditional health practitioners exist in Mapuche society, includingmachis,meicas (traditional healers),yerbateras (herbalists),hueseros (bonesetters), andsuerferos (diviners).[69] Their practices are often religiously syncretic, reflecting Christian influence.[70]Themachi's task is to diagnose the cause of an illness.[69] To do this they will look into their patient's eyes, examine urine samples, drum over their worn clothes, or conduct the uluntun, a diagnostic ritual involving prayers, massages, and rattles.[71] They will determine which deity,kalku, orwekufe is responsible for the ailment and how to treat it.[71] Some evil spirits are then dispersed from the person they are harming and sent back to the individual believed to have originally sent them.[13]
Themachi healing ceremonies are calleddatun.[72]The patient will pay themachi for this service; somemachis have set fees, while others leave the payment to their client's discretion.[71]
Mapuche traditionalists believe that all plants have sacred powers, and they are often collected for use in healing.[61] Some plants are thought to have the fourfold qualities of Ngünechen.[61]Machi may place a coin where they have taken cuttings of plants.[61]
A funeral is called anawn.[73] Members of the reservation often feel obliged to attend the funeral, with non-attendance casting suspicion that they may have had a hand in the individual's death.[73] The funeral ceremony is designed to rid the living both of the deceased person's spirit and other malevolent spirits that may be lurking around at that time;[74] if the spirit lingers among the living after death it is at risk of being captured by a witch and used for malevolent ends.[75] During the ceremony, the ancestors are invoked and called on to protect the spirit of the recently deceased individual.[76]
The Mapuche resisted being conquered by both theInca Empire,[15] stopping the Incan invasion forces at the end of the 15th century.[3] It has been noted that some symbols and aspects of theAndean religion are present among Mapuches and Huilliche whose lands lay well beyond the border of the formerInca Empire.[77][78][79] A hypothesis claim an older origin inTiwanaku for these religious commonalities.[79]
The Mapuche subsequently also successfully resisted conquest by theSpanish Empire.[80] Spanish accounts of the Mapuche religion were produced from the 16th to the 19th centuries, although were largely biased heavily against it and reflected a focus on both the Spanish war with the Mapuche and the efforts of Catholic missionaries to evangelise to them.[81]
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In 1883 the Mapuche were militarily defeated by the army of Chile, a newly independent republic established by former Spanishcriollos.[15] The Chilean government moved the Mapuche into reservations and launched missions to convert them to Catholicism.[15] On the reservations, Mapuche subsistence shifted from cattle rearing towards sedentary agriculture.[82] Chilean colonisation brought changes to Mapuche religion. The diversity of different ritual specialists declined, leaving themachi as the only full-time specialist, while some of the functions previously performed by other ritualist being consolidated in themachi.[3] This also brought what Degarrod called a "feminisation of the religious world".[3]The colonial context also impacted Mapuche views of divinity.[8]
In the latter half of the 20th century, anthropologists likeLouis Faron,Maria Ester Grebe, andMischa Titiev emphasised the continuation of themachi's practices as evidence of the Mapuche's resistance to colonisation.[3] By 1998, Lydia Nakashima Degarrod argued that this perspective ignored the "dynamics of interaction" between the Mapuche and the conditions they were now living in.[3]
The 1990s saw the growing influence of indigenous movements across Latin America.[83] In 1990, Chile became a democracy and in 1993 the Indigenous Law was passed, although the Mapuche remained socioeconomically marginalised.[16] In 2002, the scholar Cristián Parker Gumucio argued that a greater number of Mapuche were willing to admit practicing their traditional religion than in prior decades, part of a "new climate of respect and recognition".[1] Traditional rites were continued by many Mapuche who had moved to Chilean cities.[84]
In the 1990s, various Mapuche began commodifying aspects of their traditional religion forethnotourism, for instance performing ceremonies for tourist audiences, arguing that this commodification was acceptable so long asmachi benefitted.[85] Tensions within Mapuche communities over these commodifications often involved accusations and counter-accusations of witchcraft,[86] as well as claims thatmachi who commodify the religion have been punished by their spirits.[87]
By the close of the 20th century, there were around half a million Mapuche people.[3]A 2001 survey of 352 Mapuche people fromChol-Chol andSan Juan de la Costa found that 8 percent described themselves as followers of Mapuche traditional religion, while an additional 3.1 percent described following both traditional religion and Catholicism. The largest religion among Mapuche people surveyed was Catholicism, at 40.9 percent, followed by Evangelical Protestantism at 23.6 percent, and thenSeventh-day Adventism, at 9.7 percent.[1]
Evangelical and Pentecostal Christian groups have often gone among Mapuche communities and denounced traditional religious practices as witchcraft and superstition, claiming that they involve interaction withdemons.[29]
