1. Mapuche
By: Ashley Morgan

2. Background The Mapuche are the "people of the land“
Mapu means land
Che means people.
The Mapuche people were the first inhabitants of half of the area toda known as Chile and Argentina.
Before the Spanish arrived in 1541, the Mapuche occupied a vast territory in the A Southern Cone of the continent and the population numbered about two million.
The Mapuche nation now constitute the third largest indigenous society in South America.

3. Location
The Mapuche tribe inhabits south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina.
Chile 604,349
Make up 3% of population
Argentina 113,680

4. Background
They consists of a wide range of ethnicity composed of various groups who share a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common heritage.

5. Language
Mapudungun
(from mapu 'earth, land' and dungun 'speak, speech')
It is also spelled Mapuzugun and sometimes called Mapudungu or Araucanian.
Spanish

6. Flag red: blood fought in the wars green: nature & earth
sky blue: sky & hope
yellow: sun & light
white: the mountains of the Mapuche land
Cultrun: a Mapuche drum used in ceremonies the four central direction points and including the sun, moon and stars.

7. Conflict
Chile exports wood to the United States, almost all of which comes from this southern region, with an annual value of $600 million and rising.
Forest Ethics, a conservation group, has led an international campaign for preservation, resulting in the Home Depot chain and other leading wood importers agreeing to revise their purchasing policies to "provide for the protection of native forests in Chile."
Some Mapuche leaders want stronger protections for the forests.

8. Beliefs
The Pillan is a powerful and respected male spirit in Mapuche mythology.
According to the legend the Pillan are good spirits, but they can also cause disasters, since they also punish (with drought or flood, earthquakes, or diseases.

9. Works Cited