An Andean imprint among the Kamaskos of Wenuleufu

Abstract

This paper presents the recurrence of pan-Andean features in practices and sacred representations of members of Mapuche williche religious congregations in the Río Bueno river basin, known as kamaskos. From the comparative study of symbolic frames, we show the correlation of central and southern Andean worldview paradigms in topics as ancestralization, eschatological representations, conception of the landscape and the elements of nature. The systematic character of these correlations, which is an indicator of cultural affiliation relationships, is what we call the Andean imprint in the basin of Río Bueno or Wenuleufu.