studying about the Mapuche tribe in the museum of pre-columbian art

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THE MUSEUM OF PRE-COLUMBIAN ART

This museum was fascinating and as its’title suggests it exhibits mainly sculpturs and items used by the indigenous tribes who had lived in Chile before Columbus came from Spain and discovered America.

Tribes first came to Chile in 12,500 AC, the Incas inhabited Chile from 1400 to 1500, the Mapuches ruled from the 1600s and Valdivia accompanied by the Spanish lived in Chile between 1500 and 1800. I looked at the chronology of events and couldn’t believe that whilst Chile and South America were still being inhabited by indigenous tribes and hadn’t yet gained its’ independence from Spain, Europe was having the French Revolution in 1789 and man first walked on the moon. It shows how old Europe is and how relatively new South America is as a continent. Stonehenge had already been built in 1300 when the Incas hadn’t even arrived in Chile.

I learned about the Mapuche tribe and their habits. I really enjoyed learning about their lifestyles. Mapuche had Machi, who were medicine men, like shamans and who acted as mediators between human beings and divine powers. I saw many musical instruments which they used in the musical part of their rites, when they were in trances in ceremonies to communicate with the divine powers. I saw many tools that the Mapuche had used for smoking, wooden statues that they had created to put on top of tombs in the ancient Mapuche cemeteries to honour their dead, lots of silver ware and saddle blankets for horses. The Mapuche put a lot of importance on horses both as a mode of transport and as a symbol of prestige. The number of horses owned by a leader dictated how powerful he was seen to be and horses were often buried with their owners. Toquicuros also played an important part in daily life. These were ornaments which the Toqui leaders wore around their necks and conveyed the authority of the leader depending on the toquicuro's colour and size. A leader would sent it to a chief of another tribe covered in blood, to convey the message of ‘prepare to face the enemy’.

I also learned about Rapa Nui, a tribe who had inhabited Easter Island - a volcanic island belonging to Chile located in the Pacific. Rapa Nui art is rooted in Polynesian traditions. They made wooden sculptures in the shape of spirits which reflected their cosmovision, spirits, demons and incarnate animals. I will definetly go to Easter Island one day, it sounds fascinating.

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