Puels

The community of the Puels is formed of the mongrel descendants of Argentinian Creoles with populations Pehuenche, i.e. Amerindian of culture Mapuche. (Let us recall that the Pehuenche S are a group of Huarpes, living the Patagonie, with the Neuquén, which were conquered at the end of the XVIIe century by the Mapuches, of which they quickly adopted the culture and the language. But genetically it is not of Mapuches, but of Huarpes).

Puels, mongrels of these Pehuenches currently occupy of the Andean valleys in the province of Neuquén. They are already creolized people speaking Castilian, but having kept not badly habits of their indigenous Indian past.

This phenomenon of interbreeding was always intense in the old Spanish colonies (see Peru and Bolivia) including in Argentina, where at the beginning of the XIXe century, they constituted the majority of the population. It is only later on, starting from half of this XIXe century that, following the massive immigration of Europeans, the Argentinian population took its current white coloring. Nevertheless of many mongrels remain the such Gaúcho S of the Pampa and the Puel S of the Neuquén.

The name of Puel is a term Mapudungun, language of the Mapuches and Pehuenche S. It means " the East-est" , allusion to the fact that the Puels lived in the east of the territory mapuche and also undoubtedly with the fact that they were (partially) downward European invaders come from the east. One finds this term of puel in the name given to certain Indians, the Puelche S or people of the east, as with the Lac Puelo located at the east of the primitive country mapuche (Araucanie Chilean) and of the Andes cordillera).

See too

the Huarpes
the Mapuches
the Pehuenche S

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