Relating to or characteristic of wild or uncivilized people, particularly in historical contexts referring to indigenous South American groups.
Derived from indigenous South American languages, used by European colonizers to describe indigenous peoples they encountered. The term carries colonial-era connotations and reflects the perspective of outsiders.
This word is a perfect example of how language reflects colonial attitudes—European writers used words like 'aucan' to categorize indigenous peoples in ways that said more about European prejudices than about the actual people being described.
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