The Meaning of the Word “Renaico”

The word Renaico comes from the word Renaiko in Mapudungun, the native language of the Mapuche. In what follows we will include multiple interpretations and translations of the word in Spanish, with the understanding that “translating” an indigenous language is no easy task, due to the cultural differences and varying cosmovisions involved in approaching the language.

According to Juan Ñanculef, a Mapuche linguist who studies Mapudungun, the word Renaiko is made up of two words: Renai and Ko. In Spanish translation, Renai would be a verb describing the natural upspringing of water—a horizontal upspringing that happens completely naturally, without human intervention. The word Ko means water. The “upspringing of much water” in this territory makes a great deal of sense, because the Renaico River is linked to a number of different water systems, including the Negro, Amargos, Vergara, and Mininco Rivers, the Tijeral, Quilquihuenco, and Huapitrio Estuaries, and the Infiernillos Creek.

Another theory about the origin of the word Renaico comes from the collection of graphemes known as Azümchefe [1], the Mapudungun writing system. Here, the word Renaico is translated into Spanish as “water in a cave, watershed, or spring.” During the occupation of the Araucanía Region led by the settler Cornelio Saavedra, the Mapuche took refuge—or simply made their homes—in caves that formed naturally along the riverbanks.

The word “cave” is related to the Renaico River, since—according to Mapuche cosmovision—the Ngen-Ko [2] inhabited caves underneath the river. The term Ngen-Ko could be translated as “water spirits.”

(1) See https://es.wikibooks.org/wiki/Mapundungun/Pronunciaci%C3%B3n_y_escritura/Grafemario_Az%C3%BCmchefe

(2) For more information on the Ngen-Ko, see: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngen-ko