Huilliche people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 17,000 in Chiloé Archipelago | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Futahuillimapu and Chiloé Archipelago, Chile | |
| Languages | |
| Spanish, Huilliche | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (mainly Roman Catholic) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Mapuche people, Chono people, Picunche people, Chilean people |
The Huilliche, Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group of Chile. The Huilliche are the principal indigenous population of Chile from Toltén River to Chiloé Archipelago. According to Ricardo E. Latcham the term Huilliche started to be used in Spanish after the second founding of Valdivia in 1645, adopting the usage of the Mapuches of Araucanía for the southern Mapuche tribes. Huilliche means 'southerners' (Mapudungun willi 'south' and che 'people'.)
The majority of the Huilliche speaks Spanish while a minority dominated by older adults speaks Huillice language.
The Huilliche calls the territory between Bueno River and Reloncaví Sound Futahuillimapu, meaning "great land of the south".
In the 1540s Spanish conquereros led by Pedro de Valdivia arrived to Central Chile from newly conquered Peru. Between 1549 and 1553 the Spanish founded several cities in Mapuche territory and one in Huilliche territory: Valdivia. Albeit the death of Pedro de Valdivia in 1553 halted the Spanish conquests for a while Osorno and Castro were established in Huilliche territory in 1558 and 1567 respectively. The Spanish defeat by Mapuches in the battle of Curalaba in 1598 triggered a general uprising that led to the destruction of all Spanish cities in Huilliche territory except Castro.
The portion of Futahuillimapu south of Maipué River became large depulated following a period of pillaging by the Spanish and loyal Huilliches that had relocated from Osorno to the forts of Carelmapu and Calbuco. After Valdivia was refounded in 1645 the Spanish struggled to establish a land route to Chiloé Archipelago across independent Huilliche territory.
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Wikipedia