CHILE
A Spicy Dispute
Chile—derived from the Mapuche word
“Chilli,” or “where the land ends.” Perhaps
the native Mapuche walked westward
from Argentina and found out that the
continent ended at the Chilean shores
overlooking the Pacific Ocean? Another
possible origin is “cheele-cheele,” the
Mapuche imitation of a bird call.
Whatever the case, Spanish conquistadors
heard of these tales from the Incas. Upon
arriving back in Europe, they called
themselves “The Men of Chilli.”
SPAIN
A History Of
Erroneous Names
The Spaniards in South America. In 1499,
Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda and
a certain compatriot named Amerigo
Vespucci saw natives living in houses
on stilts along the coast and rivers. They
named the land Venezuela—the “Little
Venice.”
The Spanish tradition of naming lands
for erroneous or faulty observations
goes back thousands of years. The
ancient seafaring peoples of Phoenicia,
forerunners of modern exploration, found
lands far west of the Mediterranean
some 3,000 years ago. These lands
had a multitude of what they thought of
as hyraxes (shrew mice), so they named
it “I-shapan-im“—”Island of the Hyrax.”
When the Romans came to rule much of
the European continent they modified the
name of this land to “Hispania.”
However, the animals on the “Island of
the Hyrax”/”Hispania” were not even
rodents—they were actually rabbits.
Thus, Spain, the empire of explorers
who’ve handed down the names of cities
and countries based on false legends
or erroneous interpretations, was itself
derived from faulty observation.
PERFECT HOMES INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
281