Cunco people

For the municipality in Chile, see Cunco, Chile.

The Cuncos are a sedentary native Chilean people, belonging to the southern group of Mapuche peoples, and that inhabited the coasts of Chile from Valdivia to the Chacao Channel, including the inhabitants of the northern portion of Chiloé Island and the bordering islands. They spoke the mapudungun language, common to all the Mapuche peoples. They had a developed agriculture, specializing in the culture of potatoes and maize along with fishing and hunting. In addition they used sturdy wooden boats, calls dalcas, with which they crossed their coastal waters in search of fish and seafood.