Aborigines in Patagonia
Their customs
Subsistence was based on the hunt of guanaco and ñandú (ostrich
of the pampas); they also collected roots and seeds with which they elaborated
flour. They were nomads between the plateaus and the coast and here they collected
sea food and hunted marine mammals. They worked the leather with stone tools
and fabricated boats, textiles, clothing and also built their own living facilities.
These were tents divided in two compartments, one for men and the other one for
women and children. The mapuches had their own calendar,which they still
use today for their festivities. For them the year begins on June 24: the same
as other cultures in the world. This corresponds to the day after the longest
night of the year. As to religion, their God is called Nguenechen,
creator of all living things, that dominates the earth as king and gives life
and fertility to men. They also believe in some Evil being called Hualicho
or Gualicho. The mapuche language, as the majority of American aborigine
language has no written alphabet.. The transmission of histories and legends
was done orally. With the arrival of the Spaniards, and mainly with their interest
in the conversion of the indian people, began to produce the first mapuche dictionaries
and grammar. The sounds of the mapuche language were represented with the
Spanish alphabet and some auxiliary signs. Today, there are several mapuche dictionaries,
among them the one by author Esteban Erize can be recommended.
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