In the 16th century, the Araucan Indians in Chile clashed with the Spanish conquerors. The Araucans belonged to the Indians in the northern part of the South American continent. There were three tribes, namely Mapuche, Pikunche and Vercelli. They spoke the same language and formed an alliance during the war.
In 1536, when the Spanish colonizer Almagro entered South America, he had the first conflict with Araucán in Chile. From 1541 to 1553, when Baldia’s expedition entered Chile, it was resolutely resisted by the Araucans, and finally lost to the leader of the Araucans, Lautaro, and the Spanish colonial city of Santiago was almost lost. In 1558, the resistance of the Indians was suppressed by Spanish adventurers. The Spanish drove the Mapuche tribe of the Araucans into the forest area south of the Biobio River. At the end of the 17th century, the Spanish defeated the other two tribes and assimilated them into Chilean mixed races.
After the 19th century, the independent Chileans isolated the Araucans in the southern Chilean reservation.