Purén indómito
Indomitable Purén. The small town of Purén in Chile’s Araucanía Region doesn’t exactly scream “indomitable” when you first see it. It looks like many relatively sleepy towns in regiones – the catch-all term used to refer to anywhere in the regions outside Santiago’s Región Metropolitana. There’s a central plaza, some small stores, and not many people on the streets both because it’s a sleepy place and because the climate in the south of Chile in the winter doesn’t exactly lend itself to leisurely afternoon strolls.
Look a little further into history, however, and Purén starts to look a little more impressive.
This area of Chile is home to the country’s main indigenous population, the Mapuche. The Mapuche are a warrior people, and the Spaniards who conquered the northern and central areas of Chile in the 1500s and 1600s had difficulty trying to extend their rule into Mapuche territory. The famous toqui (military leader) Caupolicán fought the Spaniards around Purén as part of the 300-year-long Guerra de Arauco (Arauco War), and the title of Purén indómito comes from this resistance to colonization.
Even today, some Mapuche continue their struggle with the Chilean government, demanding certain rights and freedoms through everything from dialogue to hunger strikes to acts which some Chileans see as terrorism. Purén may have been defeated on paper as it now constitutes part of Chile, but the original spirit that gave the pueblo its nickname lives on.
You can see this Mapuche influence and history all over the place. This pharmacy on the main square caught my eye with its name. Rukalahuen is very clearly a Mapudungún word. You can recognize these words in the Mapuche language by the combination of “hue,” and in this case the use of “ruka” – the name for the traditional Mapuche houses – is another give away.
Fran, my friend and local tour guide, told me that there was a certain amount of unhappiness with the remodeling done to the central plaza de armas a few years ago. Apparently the townspeople didn’t like that much of the grass was killed in exchange for cement walkways and a big cement fountain. I, however, loved it. The new fountain features a stylized version of the symbol found on the Mapuche flag with both the design and color toned down enough to make them combine nicely with the well-established Araucaria trees flanking the plaza.
The Mapuche flag
Next up was the fort. The spot where all that indomitable-ness happened, as the Spaniards tried to hold their ground.
Let’s be honest: it’s not a particularly impressive fort. It’s not even original. It’s a wooden fence with a tower at each corner and a hut in the middle. But next to the fort the town is opening a museum with Mapuche artifacts and at least one very knowledgeable and eager man who can tell you all sorts of interesting tidbits about the history of the area and the Mapuche resistance.
By this time we’d had our fill of history and seen just about all there was to see in Purén, plus it was raining, and the house offered both warmth and soccer on TV, so back we headed. We spent the evening enjoying some local cheese and delicious longaniza as we listened to the rain fall – a light dinner in order to prepare for what we had planned for the next day.
More in this series:
Down on the farm
A weekend in the country
Authentic Italian in Southern Chile
We take our students to this area (Cañete, Contulmo, etc) once a year and I LOVE it. It’s so different from other areas I’ve been in Chile–not turisty and very genuine. Plus the history is so interesting. Great post!
That’s so cool that you’ve been there – I would have never heard of that area if not for my friend.
[...] Don't Call Me Gringa Emily blogs about Purén, a town in the Araucanía Region, in an area “home to the [...]
Boo for it raining! And I think mapuche might be my new favorite word.
Ma-POO-che (like the Argentine che) – just in case you needed a pronunciation guide
I barely scratched the surface learning about the Mapuche culture when we were in Chile so it’s good to know a little more. I love their flag!
I’ve lived here for almost 5 years and feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. There are just so many stories, and they’re not exactly what you learn in your basic Intro to Chilean History class.
Wow. I felt like I was having a history lesson then.
So fascinating to hear about the history of places. Thanks, Em. 
Happy to share it!