THE MAPUCHE NATION Index The Mapuche Nation is situated in the south of Chile and Argentina on both sides of the Andes mountains. It was the first indigenous nation in the Americas to be recognized in a treaty with a European power, the Treaty of Killín 1641. For over 350 years the Mapuche people defended their nation from invasion. Under the pretext of promoting civilisation and Christianity, first the Spanish and later the newly independent Chilean and Argentinian states ...