Pehuenches

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Pehuenche (or Pewenche) are an Indigenous people of South America. They live in the Andes, primarily in present-day south central Chile and adjacent Argentina. Their name derives from their dependence for food on the seeds of the Araucaria araucana or monkey-puzzle tree (pewen in Mapudungun). In the 16th century, the Pehuenche lived in the mountainous territory from approximately 34 degrees to 40 degrees south. Later they became Araucanized and partially merged with the Mapuche peoples. In the 21st century, they still retain some of their ancestral lands. Pehuenche groups participated in various armed conflicts in the 17th and 18th centuries, usually by "descending" from the mountains to the western lowlands of Chile. They attacked the Spanish around Maule River in 1657. More than 100 years later, they attacked the Mapuche in January 1767, and the Spanish of Isla del Laja in late 1769. In the 1860s, amidst the Chilean invasion of Araucanía, the Pehuenche declared themselves neutral. The Pehuenche chief Pichiñán is reported to have spoken against the Moluche, who wanted war, claiming that they engaged in robbery and received just punishments by Chileans for that offense. Historian José Bengoa claims that Pehuenche neutrality was based on the fact that their lands in the Andes were not subject to colonization. But, the encroaching Argentine and Chilean advances were such that in March 1881, Pehuenches assaulted the Argentine outpost of Chos Malal, killing the entire garrison of 25–30 soldiers.