Chilean People - Indigenous Chileans

Indigenous Chileans

Although indienous peoples like Mapuches and Aymaras are in some situations contrasted against Chilean people the two demonyms are not mutually exclusive and are rather often used combined. For example, "a Chilean Aymara" can be used to contrast with Aymaras living in Bolivia or Peru.

The 1907 census reported 101,118 Indians, or 3.1% of the total country population. Only those that practiced their native culture or spoke their native language were considered, irrespective of their "racial purity."

At the 2002 census, people that declared themselves as indigenous amounted to 4.6% of the population (692,192 people); of these, 87.3% declared themselves Mapuche. as with Chileans of other backgrounds most Mapuches show varying degrees of mixed ancestry.

Some native peoples of Chile disappeared product from acculturation and miscegenation, as is the case of peoples Picunches, Diaguitas and Chonos, whereas a large number of Selknam or Onas disappeared by the extermination carried out by settlers in Tierra del Fuego in the early 20th century. Other factors that contributed to their extinction were diseases brought by white men, such as the smallpox.