Mapuche religion
Mapuche religion is the traditional Native American religion of the Mapuche 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 the Christian God. Communal prayer ceremonies are termed ngillatun and involve the provision of offerings and animal sacrifice. Various different ritual specialists were historically active among the Mapuche, but in the 20th century many of these died out, leaving the machi as the main kind. These machi are tasked with overseeing healing and divination, tasks accomplished through their communication with spirits.
Historically, the Mapuche were politically independent and prevented conquest by the Incan and Spanish 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 to Catholicism. From the 1990s, Mapuche religion underwent a revitalisation, with greater visibility and efforts to use it to encourage tourism.
Definitions and terminology
Mapuche religion is not institutional. In Latin America, traditional religions are rarely pure, unadulterated continuations from the traditions that existed prior to European contact. The term "Mapuche," found in the Mapuche language, means "people of the land". Another term for this people, used by the Spanish colonialists, was the Araucanians. Contemporary Mapuche people are largely bilingual, speaking both their own language, Mapudungan, and Spanish, the main colonial language of the region.In order to describe the beliefs of the Mapuche people, it is important to note that there are no written records about their ancient legends and myths from before the Spanish arrival, since their religious beliefs were passed down orally. Their beliefs are not necessarily homogenous; among different ethnic 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 the myths and legends of Chilean folklore, and to a lesser extent, folklore in some areas of Argentina. Many of these beliefs have been altered and influenced by Christianity, due largely to the evangelization done by Spanish missionaries. This happened chiefly through the syncretism 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 within Chilean, 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.
Beliefs
Theology
Mapuche traditional religion features a pantheon of gods and goddesses. The Meli Küyen are the four moon spirits; the Meli Wangülen are the four spirits of the stars. The wenu püllüam are ancestral spirits in the sky.Ngünechen is also known as Chaw Dios and Ñuke Dios. 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. The root of this divinity's name, genche, first appeared in 1601 to describe a Spanish landowner. Many Mapuche equate Ngünechen with the Christian God, although other Mapuche traditionalists stress they are different.
The ngen are nature spirits. They populate the earth and are in turn prayed to by other spirits. These ngen are the owners of particular environments and can capture, possess, and punish those who enter their realms without permission. The foki spirits are intermediaries between the forest and humanity, connecting the two through the rainbow. Like humans, the foki engage in prayer.
Both the deities and other spirits are thought to have both good and bad sides.
The gods and spirits can grant wealth, good harvests, and fertility if propitiated with offerings. If people fail to provide offerings or transgress norms called admapu, Machuche traditionalists believe that deities and spirits can punish people with illness, scarcity, or infertility.
Various wekufe spirits kill humans. The sumpall is a blond mermaid who seduces men into the river, where it kills them and steals their souls. The witranalwe takes the form of a thin Spaniard on a horse; his wife is the small, luminescent añchümalleñ, who sucks people's blood. The Punkure and Punfüta are spouses who seduce their victims in their dreams to drain their life energy.
Sun and moon worship among the Mapuche have parallels among the Central Andean peoples and the Inca religion. Indeed, in among Mapuches as well as Central Andean peoples the moon and the sun are spouses. Mapuche, Quechua and Aymara words for the sun and the moon appear to be a borrowing from Puquina language. Thus the parallels in cosmology may be traced back to the days of the Tiwanaku Empire in which Puquina is thought to have been an important language.
Cosmology
In Mapuche traditional belief, the cosmos consists of three vertical planes, each comprising a different force that remains in conflict with the other two. The upper realm is termed the wenu 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. It is associated with the colors white, yellow, and blue.The earth is called mapu and it is here that the struggle between good and evil takes place. Mapu is associated with the colors green and blood red.
The underworld beneath mapu is termed munche mapu, a realm associated with evil, death, destruction, and pollution. It is also associated with volcanic eruptions, whirlwinds, and cemeteries, as well as the colors bright red and opaque black. It is in munche mapu that the wekufe spirits live.
The word Wallmapu originally meant "Universe" as well as "set of surrounding lands".
Soul and the ancestors
Mapuche traditional religion teaches that humans, other animals, and natural phenomena all have a trata, or body, as well as a distinct spiritual essence. The living soul is called a püllü, while humans also have a soul that survives bodily death, the am. According to the traditional belief, Mapuche people fear that their spirit can be captured and manipulated by a wekufe spirit or a witch; spirits of the dead can for instance be captured and polluted by witches unless they are appropriately dispatched to the afterlife.The spirits of the dead can reside in an eternal shadow realm. The continuing relationship of mutual dependence between the living and their ancestors is an important facet of Mapuche traditional religion. Propitiating these ancestors is thus a key ritual among Mapuche traditionalists. 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.
There are differing views among scholars on whether ancestors play a significant role in Mapuche religion. Wine or chicha is regularly poured for the ancestors.
Morality and ethics
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. Rural Mapuche women often place great emphasis on modesty. In Mapuche society, men are permitted to have multiple wives.Practices
Prayers are called ngillatunes. The prayers of the machi are usually in their native Mapudungu language, although rituals and other situations will often see them use both Mapudungu and Spanish. There are often taboos on photographing traditional rituals. Prior to the Chilean colonial conquest of the Mapuche, there were an array of different ritual specialists.''Ngillatun''
The ngillatun has been described as "the main rituals" of contemporary Mapuche religion. The whole community takes part in the ngillatun rituals, which occur within a consecrated space. These involve prayers and animal sacrifices and are believed to maintain balance among cosmic forces and avoid catastrophe. The ngillatun ritual is designed to ensure cosmic wholeness, and is often performed both before and after the harvest.The ngillatuwe is the collective altar; it is also called la cruza. It takes the form of a pole with the face and arms of either Ngünechen or an ancestor carved on it; it will face east and is thought to protect the community. A Catholic priest will often bless it after it has been erected. White and blue crosses, representing the powers of the sky, are often planted beside it. The ngillatuwe represents an axis mundi. It is located inside the ngillatun fields, which are deemed sacred and left uncultivated. If the ngillatuwe is destroyed it is believed that catastrophe will befall both the person responsible and the community to whom it belongs.
Until the early 20th century, the ngillatun was often led by male community elders known as ngenpin. By the 21st century, the ngenpin were still officiating in the Pewenche and Williche areas but machi were instead doing so in the areas of the south-central valleys and the Andean foothills.
The ngillatun ritual can take over two days to complete. Those participating will typically wear Mapuche traditional clothing and may have their faces painted. During the ceremony, prayers are offered to Ngünechen, with offerings of maize, beans, and muday placed at the foot of the ngillatuwe. An animal such as a sheep would then be sacrificed. If the community is in danger and needs important messages, machi will go into a trance at the ngillatun but this does not always happen. Those assembled will dance both in rows and in a circle around the ngillatuwe. Men on horseback perform the awün, circling the dances in imitation of the sun.